Troubled Love
by prettyinpinkgal
Summary: A tragic event occurs after confessions of love. A bargain is then made to secure the safety of the Sohma family and Tohru Honda. But people do not act as one plans, and the love of two individuals may lead to the pain of all. DONE!
1. Chapter One: Sunday Morning

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hi! This fanfiction is dedicated to Mikin Ishida and Mitzuko, since they wanted a Furuba fic. Hope ya like it! Oh, by the way, does anyone know how many cranes have been folded for the thing Funimation is doing to get a second season of Fruits Basket? Please let me know when you review! Thanks! Oh, and this is before Tohru-kun meets Rin and Kureno (that's how you spell his name right?). Also, I can't type or say swear words, so Kyo-kun's language will be a bit different.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Furuba, because if I did it wouldn't be nearly as good as it is today!**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER ONE: SUNDAY MORNING**

A brunette opened her hazel eyes and yawned. She rubbed her eyes and got up to change out of her pajamas. 'Hi, my name is Tohru Honda. I'm sixteen years old and a second-year in Kaibara High School. My oldest best friends are Uo-chan and Hana-chan. My mother was killed in a car crash a year ago in May, and my father had passed away from a fever when I was very young. When Mom died, I lived with my grandfather a little bit, but then moved into a tent in the woods when his house needed remodeling to fit my aunt's family in. I was there for only a week when my classmate, Yuki "Prince Charming" Sohma, and his older cousin, Shigure-san, found me there and invited me to stay in their house. I agreed that to pay for room and board I would do the household chores. That wasn't my only job. I also worked (and still work) at a building that a member of the Sohma family actually owns.

'I found out soon that the Sohmas have a secret: They transform into the Chinese Zodiac animals, including the cat! This happens when they are hugged by the opposite gender, or their bodies become very weak. They don't want anyone to know about this, of course, and they would usually erase the memories of the one who discovered it. But, strangely, I was spared by the head of the family, Akito-san, and was able to continue living with the Sohmas without getting my memories erased! One by one, I met the others that suffered the curse of the Chinese Zodiac. I already knew Shigure-san, the Dog, Yuki-kun, the Rat, and Kyo-kun, the rejected Cat who is set on beating Yuki. Kagura-san is the Boar and loves Kyo, Momiji-kun is the Rabbit and is half-German, Hatsuharu-san is the Ox that sometimes turns into Black-san, Kisa-san is a shy middle-schooler and is the Tiger, Hiro-san is the smart Ram, Ayame-san is the Snake and is Yuki-kun's brother, Hatori-san is the Dragon and must suppress memories at Akito-san's command, and Ritchan-san is the apologetic Monkey. They are all so nice to me, though they don't always act the same way with each other! I can't wait to see the other things that are in store for us!'

Tohru-kun finished changing and went downstairs to prepare breakfast for everyone. She heard the sound of a sliding door and turned. "Ah! Ohayo, Kyo-kun!" Tohru said cheerfully.

"Yo," was Kyo-kun's reply. He looked over Tohru-kun's shoulder to see the meal starting to go brown. "YOU IDIOT! WATCH THE STOVE!" He yelled.

Tohru-kun quickly started to stir the food, but the damage was already done. She turned off the stove, threw the burned food away, and turned to Kyo-kun. "Gomen nasi! Breakfast might be a while!"

Kyo-kun sighed. "Whatever. Just make sure you pay more attention to things."

Tohru-kun's smile returned. "Hai! I'll do my best!"

Kyo-kun couldn't help but to give his rare, true smile. How was it that she, a ditz and klutz, make him feel, well, happy? She was always caring about others, even him, and was totally selfless. She even accepted his true form, even though he was sure she'd hate him!

His thoughts were interrupted when Shigure-san entered the room. "Good morning, everyone!"

"Good morning to you too, Shigure-san!" Tohru-kun replied.

"How's my precious flower today, hmm?" Shigure-san said.

"SHUT UP!" Kyo-kun shouted. 'Dang, does that idiot know how sick he sounds!' A sudden wave of pain hit him in the stomach and sent him flying.

"Shut up yourself, stupid cat." The calm voice of the guy he hated the most filled the air.

"DANG RAT! I'M GONNA KILL YOU ONE OF THESE DAYS!"

"Yeah, I know you will," Yuki-kun said, rolling his eyes.

"Good morning, Yuki-kun! Uh, um, this is pretty early for you!" Tohru-kun said with her arms waving around, trying to cool the heat between the two.

"Good morning, Honda-san. Yes, the voice of a certain someone once again woke me up," Yuki-kun said with a smile.

"Why, you…" Kyo-kun said between clenched teeth. He wanted to avoid conflict in front of Tohru-kun. But it was getting really, _really_ hard not to.

"Um, I better get to making breakfast!" Tohru-kun said, knowing Kyo-kun would probably burst any moment. She quickly began preparing the meal.

Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun sighed. It was 7:40 and already the day wasn't showing much promise. Hopefully, it would get better, since they had some plans…

**Prettyinpinkgal: Okay, this chapter wasn't that great. But this is kinda just an intro, so it'll get better (hopefully)! Please review! And thanks again to everyone who reviewed my last fanfic, "Christmas Miracles"!**


	2. Chapter Two: Spoken Attractions, Part I

**Prettyinpinkgal: Konnichiwa! Here's the second chapter!**

**Thanks to:**

**One of my friends, Elisabeth: Thanks for reading! LYLAS!**

**Somebody: Thank you very much!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, because if I did, I'd be really famous, and I'm not. Bummer.**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER TWO: SPOKEN ATTRACTIONS, PART I**

"Honda-san," Yuki-kun said to Tohru-kun when they were alone. "Let's go to the secret base."

"Oh, okay Yuki-kun!" Tohru-kun happily replied.

The two silently went over to the garden. When they got there, Tohru-kun started to work on the plants, but Yuki-kun stopped her. He took a deep breath and thought, 'It's now or never.' He then turned back to the girl looking quizzically at him. "Honda-I mean, Tohru-kun," he started. 'Wow, I never knew I could actually say her first name,' he thought, blushing inwardly. "We've known each other for a long time. You even know about the secret, and you still accepted all of us in the Sohma family. You're the sweetest girl I know," Yuki-kun stopped again and glanced again at Tohru-kun.

"Oh! Um, that is, I'm not at all like that! I mean, uh…" Tohru-kun cried, blushing and quite flustered. She stopped when Yuki wrapped his arms around her, but not enough to actually hug her. This only made her blush even more.

"Tohru, I love you. I've loved you for a while now. Please, love me back," he said, his breath against her ear.

Tohru-kun stiffened up, and Yuki-kun let her go. "I'm sorry, Yuki-kun. It's just, I'm so shocked. No one ever said they loved me before, not in that way. Can you please give me some time to think about it?" Tohru-kun said.

Yuki-kun, though a tad bit hurt she didn't automatically say she loved him, but happy she would think about it, nodded. They started walking back to the house. "Honda-san?"

"Hai?"

"Can I still call you Tohru-kun?"

Tohru smiled. "Of course, Yuki-kun!"

**Prettyinpinkgal: There's Chapter 2 for ya! Gomen that it's pretty short! Please review! Thanks! **


	3. Chapter Three: Spoken Attractions, PII

**Prettyinpinkgal: Konnichiwa! Here's Chapter Three! Yuki doesn't have an honorific after his name in this chapter, because this is mainly in Kyo-kun's POV sort of, and there's no way that he'd even consider calling him –san or –kun.**

**Thanks to:**

**Dark Resister: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like it! I want to keep the pairing a secret, so it's sort of a surprise.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, because if I did, I'd be an adult, which I'm not. (I'm not even a teenager yet! Let's see, looks on calendar 3 whole months till I turn 13! Darn it.)**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER TWO: SPOKEN ATTRACTIONS, PART II**

Kyo-kun was on the roof, thinking. 'If I tell her, and she rejects me, not only will I feel like crud, but I'll also make her feel that way too. She's that type of person.' Kyo-kun could just imagine what Tohru-kun would say…

"Waah! Kyo-kun, I'm so sorry! But I don't feel the same way! Our friendship might never be the same! Please forgive me, Kyo-kun!" Imaginary Tohru-kun cried as she turned down Kyo-kun's love for her.

The daydream went from bad to worse when he imagined Tohru and the dang rat walking down the aisle to get married. The rat turned around after he and Tohru-kun kissed and said, "Looks like I beat you again, stupid cat." Kyo-kun stopped the daydream right there and shook his head, not allowing even the thought of that dang Yuki getting the one person that made him feel accepted, aside from Shishou.

"I have to tell her, before that dang rat gets her," he decided. He looked down from the roof, and saw Yuki and Tohru-kun walking from the woods. Tohru-kun had a slight blush on her face, and looked rather uneasy. The color drained from Kyo's face. Yuki didn't tell her he loved her before he did, did he! His ears perked up when they started talking.

"Honda-san?" Yuki asked.

"Hai?"

"Can I still call you Tohru-kun?" Wait, did that mean she didn't love him back?

Tohru-kun's smile came back a bit. "Of course, Yuki-kun!"

The two went inside, and Kyo-kun went back to thinking. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear a certain someone climb up onto the roof.

"Ah! Hello, Kyo-kun!" A voice knocked Kyo-kun out of his thoughts and turned to yell at the person, only to find the very girl he was thinking about. A blush crept onto his face, even though he tried to stop it. "H-Hey," was all he said. He managed to push out a, "What are you doing up here?"

"You usually are up here thinking, and so I thought since this place helps you sort out your problems, maybe it could help me too," she said. Tohru-kun got a little flustered and said, "N-Not that it's anything to worry about, so, um, since you're here, I'll leave so I won't bother you!"

Tohru-kun started climbing down the ladder when Kyo-kun, still bright red, said, "You can still stay up here. I don't really care." What he wanted to say was, "I love it when you're with me." But it was hard enough saying that she could stay, so saying that would be an impossible task.

Tohru-kun quietly said a thank you, and sat next to Kyo-kun as they looked up at the evening sky. (A/N If only school days went by that fast!) Kyo-kun looked to see a troubled look on her face. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Oh, that's okay! I wouldn't want to burden you with my problems!" Tohru-kun cried and waved her hands around wildly.

Kyo-kun couldn't help but laugh a little and insisted that it was okay, he didn't mind.

Tohru-kun hesitated, and then said, "Um, today, Yuki-kun said he, um, _loves_ me. I was so startled, I told him I'd think about it. I don't want to hurt him, and I don't know how I feel about him other than as a friend." She added quietly, "Doushiyou?"

Kyo-kun stared at her for a moment, and, without thinking, leaned in and kissed her. Tohru-kun didn't fidget away, because she was too shocked to move. Kyo-kun stopped the kiss, blushing immensely, and said, "I know this will probably only hurt you more, but I love you, too. Through all the times I was hurt, you were there for me and accepted me _and_ my true form. I was always happy just to be with you." Kyo-kun stopped and waited for an answer.

Tohru-kun felt tears well up and said, "Gomen nasi, Kyo-kun, but, I-I just don't know! I'm sorry!" With that, she quickly climbed down the ladder and ran into her room. Kyo-kun started beating himself up about it, while Tohru-kun laid on her bed crying. She cried herself to sleep, and the last thing she thought was, 'I don't want to fall in love again.'

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hope ya liked it! Next chapter will be about Tohru-kun's dreams that are memories of her past. Please review and stay tuned for the next chapter of "Troubled Love"!**


	4. Chapter Four: Memories of the Past

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hey everyone! Here's Chapter Four! This chapter should clear some things up. **

**Thanks to:**

**Dark Resister: Thank you again for reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, because if I did, I'd be Japanese, but I'm Lithuanian (partly). For those of you who don't know, Lithuania is this REALLY tiny country near Russia (or is it Germany?).**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER FOUR: MEMORIES OF THE PAST**

_A fourteen-year-old girl rushed to put on her school uniform. She was going to be late if she didn't leave right then! She quickly brushed her teeth and put her hair in pigtails. "Bye Mom! I love you! Come home safe!" the girl called behind her as she ran out the door._

"_Bye Tohru-chan! Good luck at school!" a woman cheerfully shouted back as her daughter raced down the street. 'That's the fastest I've ever seen her run!' Kyoko-san thought to herself and laughed. The woman walked to her car and drove away._

_As Tohru sped down road, she lost one of her shoes. She quickly put it back on, but before she could get up, a boy tripped over her hunched body and knocked the two over. "Gomen nasi! I should have been out of the way more! Are you all right!" Tohru-kun frantically said as she crawled over to the boy._

"_Hai, I'm fine. Don't worry about it, I was in such a hurry I didn't see anyone. It was my fault." The boy lifted up his head to reveal a hazel-eyed boy with brown hair. Tohru-kun blushed slightly when she saw his face. It had a kind expression on it, and it made her heart skip a beat. _

_She snapped out of it and looked at his clothes. "Oh, you and I go to the same middle school!" _

_The boy looked at her and smiled. "I suppose we do! I better introduce myself. I'm Hikaru Jinshi. I'm pleased to meet you."_

'_What a nice person!' "I'm Tohru Honda. Which class are you in?"_

_The two found out Hikaru was only a year older than Tohru-kun. Then they stopped and gasped, "SCHOOL!" Hikaru grabbed Tohru's hand and showed her a shortcut. They had made it with a minute to spare. They then said good-bye and went to their classes._

**F. U. R. U. B. A.**

"_So, Tohru, is he gonna meet up with ya later?" Uo-chan asked as she, Tohru, and Hana-chan ate lunch. Tohru-kun had said about the events that happened earlier that day, and she had been bombarded with questions about him._

"_He didn't say, but it would be nice to see him again," Tohru-kun blushed as she thought of his smile. 'Why is my heart beating so quick?'_

_The blush didn't go unnoticed. "How sweet. Our little Tohru has a crush." Hana-chan said with a slight smile. "I've seen him before. He seemed to have fair waves, so I think he would be a fine match with you."_

"_Oh, no, um, I don't even think he likes me that way! I mean, there are probably many prettier girls than me in his grade. There's no reason why he should like me," Tohru-kun replied sadly._

_The two friends looked at the saddened girl. This was one of the few times they saw her with a sad look._

**F. U. R. U. B. A.**

_Tohru-kun was walking out of the school when she saw Hikaru. "Jinshi-senpai!"_

_He turned around. "Konnichiwa, Tohru-san! You don't have to call me Jinshi-senpai. You can just call me Hikaru."_

_Tohru-kun beamed. "Okay, Hikaru-kun! You can call me Tohru!" The two started walking to their homes. They saw an crepe place, where Hikaru-kun offered to buy her some. He walked her to her house (the two had learned a lot about each other by now) and he kissed her on the cheek. Tohru-kun blushed as he left…_

Tohru-kun woke up from her dream and saw that it was 4:50 in the morning. She sighed and rolled onto her side. 'I haven't had a dream about him in so long. When Yuki-kun told me he loved me, I wanted to avoid telling him about Hikaru-kun. But when Kyo-kun confessed, I got so afraid. Afraid of falling in love again, and of someone getting hurt, like last time.'

**Prettyinpinkgal: I think this chapter sort of stunk. U.U Anyway, I hope it helped make the story a little more understandable! Like why she didn't spazz when Yuki-kun confessed and stuff. Please review and stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	5. Chapter Five: Hatred

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hi! Here's the next chapter! That was quick o.O; Oh, and everyone has a day off from school today, in case you were wondering why they were home on a Monday. Please review, and please tell me if I should raise the rating to T. **

**Warning: If you're a younger reader, this chapter has quite a bit of violence and blood.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, because if I did, it wouldn't be wildly popular as it is now! .**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER FIVE: HATRED**

Yuki Sohma walked down the steps, rubbing his eyes. It was hard for him to fall asleep last night because he was worried about what Tohru-kun would say when she came to her decision. As he went to the table to eat, he saw Shigure, but no sign of Tohru-kun.

"Good morning, Yuki! You're looking cheerful this morning!" Shigure-san said as he saw the groggy boy sit at the table.

Yuki-kun started eating the food Tohru-kun had prepared earlier when he said between bites, "Where's Tohru-kun?"

"Ah, you've finally managed to say her first name, eh? Our little flower has gone to visit a friend of hers. She said she's not sure how long she's going to be gone."

Yuki-kun stopped eating. "This early in the morning? That's strange."

"She probably wanted to get away for a while," a voice said. Yuki-kun turned around to see the Cat glaring at him. He had seen him glare at him, but this was more hatred than he'd ever seen in Kyo's eyes. Not only that, but there was jealousy. Realization hit Yuki-kun.

"You told her, didn't you? You told her that you love her," Yuki-kun said with clenched teeth.

"Yeah, but it's not like you didn't tell her!" Kyo-kun yelled.

Shigure-san looked between the two and, though happy they had finally confessed their feelings to Tohru-kun, slightly wished they didn't have the same feelings for her. Shigure might write romance novels (when he feels like it), but he never saw something as heated as this before over a girl.

"YOU STUPID CAT! I'M SUPPOSED TO HAVE HER! THE CAT ISN'T LOVED BY ANYONE!"

"THAT'S RIGHT, YOU SPOILED RAT! I NEVER WAS LOVED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN SHISHOU, AND WHEN SOMEONE FINALLY COMES ALONG THAT I LOVE, YOU TRY TO TAKE HER FROM ME!"

Shigure-san closed his eyes as he saw them lunge at each other, not only because he didn't want to see his home being destroyed, but also not see the gruesome site that would be there.

_CRASH!_

Shigure saw opened his eyes to see the two boys laying outside. They had crashed into the door, and blood was everywhere from the glass. (A/N I know that Kyo-kun had been flung through the door many times and had not been too badly hurt, but please work with me here!) The two were unconscious. Whether they would make it or not was not known. There were glass all over them, and it seemed to take a miracle that the blood would stop. Shigure-san quickly called Hatori-san, and took the teenagers to their rooms.

**F. U. R. U. B. A.**

Tohru-kun was dressed in black, sitting in front of a gravestone. She laid some flowers there and cleaned it off. On the gravestone, it said, "Jinshi Hikaru, R. I. P.". It was hard for her to believe he had been gone for more than two years. She felt bad for not telling Yuki and Kyo about him, and for saying no one had told her they loved her before, but she wanted to stay away from the subject as much as possible. The Sohmas had willingly opened up to her and told her about hard things that happened to them, and she couldn't even be brave enough to tell them what happened to her first love. 'When I do tell them,' she thought, 'I hope they don't hate me for lying to them.' Of course, they wouldn't, but this _is_ Tohru-kun. Tohru-kun decided to keep her mind off that, but unwillingly, her brain had brought forth a memory of a conversation she wanted to forget…

"_Tohru, I love you too."_

"_I-I'm sorry, but I don't feel the same. Um, maybe we could just be friends?"_

"_If I can't have you, no one can!"_

"_Don't shoot her!"_

"_Hikaru-kun, look out!"_

That was when she was in a love triangle like she is now. Hatred ran ramped as an admirer from school shot Hikaru in the chest. The shooter was sentenced to Juvenile Hall (A/N Do they have that in Japan?) and Hikaru-kun was sent to the hospital. He died later that night.

Suddenly, Tohru-kun had a really bad feeling. She wasn't able to sense waves, like Hana-chan could, but right now she just knew she had to get to Shigure-san's house right away. She said, "Good-bye, Hikaru-kun," out loud, and ran as fast as her legs could take her.

**F. U. R. U. B. A.**

When Tohru saw the house, Hatori-san's car was in front of it. 'Eh? What's going on!'

"Konnichiwa! Shigure-san? Hatori-san? Yuki-kun? Kyo-kun?" Tohru-kun shouted, since no one was in the house. 'Wait, where's the door?' Tohru-kun wondered suddenly. She could have fainted when she saw the glass in the garbage and the blood that was drying outside. She quickly ran up the stairs and heard voices coming from Kyo-kun's room. She knocked on the door, and went in. Hatori, so it would be easier to keep an eye on them, had both Kyo and Yuki in the bedroom. Both were still unconscious and bleeding profusely. Hatori-san was now wrapping up their wounds, since by now he had the glass out.

"Honda-kun, there's been an accident. Shigure says they were fighting over you, and they accidentally crashed through the door. We're not sure if they'll make it, because they lost a lot of blood," Hatori-san said as the girl turned pale at the site of the two Sohmas.

Tohru-kun slipped into a chair beside the bed and confused Shigure-san and Hatori-san when she whispered, "Please, God, not again."

**Prettyinpinkgal: Wow, that's the most dramatic thing I've ever written! Not that I've written that many stories on I'm sorry that some of the characters are a little OOC. Gomen nasi! Anyway, please review! **


	6. Author's Note

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hey everyone! Again, I'm REALLY sorry for the OOC-ness and I apologize for the shortness of the chapters. I'll try to do better this time, but I can't guarantee anything. Thanks for all the hits on the story!**

**Thanks to:**

**Windy on Neopets: Thanks again for telling me what you thought about the story!  
**

**i-love-vash: I'm glad you liked it! Yeah, I was pretty brain dead while I was typing that, so it's really lame. U.U Note to self: Never type stories while brain dead. **

**Beth (aka my friend Elisabeth that I mentioned in the second chapter): Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad u like it!**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Okay, I'm kind of having writer's block, so please tell me what you think should happen next! . I'd really be grateful! Also, I might work on another story while on writer's block for this story, so if you don't have any ideas for what should happen, you could also tell me which of the following types of stories I should work on:

Anastasia

Tokyo Mew Mew

Pretear

Full Moon wo Sagashite

Liberty's Kids

W.i.t.c.h.

Peter Pan

Tuck Everlasting

Ella Enchanted

Princess Nine

Thanks again! .


	7. Chapter Six: Leaving

**Prettyinpinkgal: Oh. My. I'm in shock myself. I'm actually UPDATING! I just realized, this fic is kinda sounding like Full Moon wo Sagashite. I didn't even read the manga or watch much of the anime when I was typing the previous chapters! Muchos thanks to my wonderful supporters out there! And to one of my BFFs, Elisabeth, who now has a screenname: Stardust730. Please read her fics, they're really great! And thanks Elisabeth and Tsubasa Kyo for the ideas! But, I think I'll actually go for a different approach U.U So I'm really sorry for not using your ideas! Don't worry, Tsubasa, there WILL be drama later (at least, kinda...I think...I hope...). I will try making this chapter extra long because of the hiatus. Enjoy:)  
**

**Disclaimer: Even though I'm now 13, I'm still not an adult, nor do I have a penname that is Takaya Natsuki. So yeah. **

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER SIX: LEAVING**

Tohru cried a lot, even a week after the accident. Meanwhile, Shigure-san went out. He was expected an appointment with Akito-san, and no matter how awful the circumstances in a Sohma household were, you **were not** to go back on your word with Akito-san. As Hatori-san drove him up (He was going to have Shigure call him when he needed to get back, since he needed to keep an eye on Kyo and Yuki), he worried about Tohru-kun. She was hiding something, he could sense it. 'Has something like this happened before to her? How is she going to deal when-_if_-Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun recover?'

Shigure walked into the main house, and asked a nearby servant if Akito-san was ready to see him yet. She checked, then came back and said yes. Shigure-san took a breath and headed in. He was fifteen minutes late. Surely Akito would ask him what had kept him.

Akito-san was with his bird again, which was prancing on his finger. He straightened as he heard the door close and turned slowly.

"Hello, Shigure."

"Pleased to see you are well, Akito-san."

Akito-san's bird flew off as he stood and approached Shigure. "Do you realize what time it is?"

So far, so good. He wasn't letting on that he was furious. Hopefully, it would stay that way. Shigure used to be totally comfortable with Akito, never worried he'd do anything to him. He still wasn't scared too much, but ever since the incident with Hatori-san's eye, he'd been slightly cautious. "Gomen nasai, Akito-san, I know I'm quite late. I wasn't paying attention..."

"SHUT UP!" Akito yelled. "I DON'T WANT YOUR LIES! TELL ME THE TRUTH!"

Reluctantly, Shigure explained that he was looking over Yuki and Kyo, who had a fight a week ago and ended up extremely hurt. With Akito-san's command, he told him it was over Tohru-kun. Akito immediately understood.

"Ah, so the Rat and the Cat finally confessed their feelings to her." A smirk formed on his face. "Shigure, please inform Honda-san over here. I'd like to..._discuss_ this matter with her."

Shigure used to think of pretty much no one but himself. But once Tohru-kun came into the picture, he began changing. He was still the only one he thought about the most, but he began thinking of others too. He couldn't let Tohru go. She didn't do anything wrong, except for winning two boys' hearts. "Akito-san. I don't mean any disrespect, but please, reconsider. Tohru..."

"Are you disobeying me? Bring me the little monster at once, or I'll do it myself."

Shigure nodded. "Yes, Akito-san." He bowed and stood up to leave.

"Shigure." He turned as Akito spoke. "You don't need to worry about Honda-san. She won't be an issue any longer." The grin on Akito-san's face made even Shigure's stomach churn. This wasn't good. Not good at all.

* * *

Tohru's eyes fluttered open. She had another dream about Hikaru, but instead of just Hikaru-kun being shot, Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun were too. Tears streamed down. She couldn't do anything in her dream, and she couldn't do anything to help them now. She was just useless. Tohru heard someone come into the room, and quickly dried her face. "Honda-kun," Hatori-san said. He looked worried. 

"Hai, Hatori-san?" she asked, forcing a smile.

Hatori looked away. "Honda-kun...I'm sorry, but you have to see Akito-san. He's found out."

Tohru Honda was an airhead, and was confused sometimes, but she understood this perfectly. She had noticed Akito-san's fury before. This meeting was going to be painful. 'But then, I shouldn't be thinking so selfishly. It's my fault that Kyo-kun...and Yuki-kun...and Hi-' She wasn't even able to finish the thought when she choked back a sob. Would they die too? Would they suffer the same fate as Hikaru-kun, all because of her?

As they arrived at the main house, Momiji-kun, Kisa-san, Hiro-san, Kagura-san, Hatsuharu-san, Ayame-san, and even Ritchan-san stood waiting for them. "Um, word sure does fly quickly in the main house, huh?" Tohru said nervously. They were all worried about her. This might be worse than she suspected.

"Tohru! Be careful, okay? If he hurts you, I'll go in there myself!" Momiji-kun said. Tohru smiled slightly and whispered a thank you.

"Onee-chan, d-don't get hurt. Run away if you have to..." Kisa started crying, and Hiro-san put a hand on her shoulder. He glared at Tohru-kun, though it wasn't as hard as it usually was.

"Stupid woman! If you let Akito-san do something hurt you, your stupider than I thought." Hiro-san said, which was very typical of him.

"Good luck Tohru-kun!" Kagura-san said, with an encouraging smile on her face. Tohru's false smile faltered.

"Ano, Kagura-san...Do you know the cause of the fight, too...?"

She nodded, and hugged Tohru. "It's okay. I think I'll always love Kyo-kun in my own way. I think you two would go well together," she winked. "But don't go too harshly on Yun-chan while telling him you don't like him that way. 'Kay?"

"Ah! But, I don't even know if I love either of them! Plus, I'd never be able to choose. They both have their own good qualities. Besides, I don't think I could even love anyone that way since..." Tohru clasped her mouth. "Uh, no, it's nothing." 'I almost let myself to tell them about Hikaru-kun. I don't want them to pity me for it. I don't even know if I could tell anyone about him, after keeping him a secret for so long. Even Mom doesn't know we were dating and he was...' She couldn't bring herself to think of it.

With perfect timing, Ayame came up and said, "TOHRU! Once you go through with this, I'll let Mine work on a splendid dress for you!"

"Oh, thank you so much, Ayame-san!" With Ayame-san trying to be so optomistic, she couldn't help but smile again. A real smile.

She turned to Haru. "Yo," he said. "When those two wake up, I don't think they'd want to find out something happened to you with Akito. So don't get him riled up more, 'kay?"

"Hai," Tohru-kun nodded. She heard steps behind her, and she turned, thinking it was Akito-san, but instead...

"I'M SORRY!"

"UWAAH!" Tohru screamed, surprised. It was, of course, Ritsu, off on one of his rampages again.

"Tohru-san, I'm so sorry, really, I am! If you can find it in your heart to forgive me..." And basically, it went on for a while like that.

"Ano...Ritchan-san, it's not your fault. Anyway, um, thank you all for coming. It means so much to me, really. Daijobu (I'll be all right)!" With this, she waved goodbye and went into the room Akito-san occupied.

* * *

Tohru walked into the room after knocking and receiving a reply. She bowed, and Akito nodded, telling her to sit down. 

"Honda-san, do you know why I brought you here?" Akito-san asked.

She was surprised that he was being so nice, but then again, he acted like that when they first met, and he hurt many of the Sohmas. Tohru shakily answered, "Hai, Akito-san."

"So what did you think you were doing, allowing them to fall for a monster like _you_?" His voice grew colder and more hateful. It rose and screamed, "DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH THAT? HOW STUPID _ARE_ YOU? EVERYBODY HATES YOU, AND _IF _KYO AND YUKI WAKE UP, THEY'LL HATE YOU EVEN MORE THAN I DO! EVERYONE WAS DOING **FINE** BEFORE YOU SHOWED UP! THEN, YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR LIVES, BUT ALL YOU DID WAS MAKE THEM MORE SCARRED THAN THEY ALREADY WERE!"

The words shook Tohru. Images of Hikaru bleeding, him dead, her mother's cold face, Yuki and Kyo, everybody glaring at her...They all flooded into her mind. She began shaking. "I...It's true, I...I did hurt those I care about...! It's all my fault!" Tears streamed down her face, ones that weren't held back. 'It's my fault Mom and Hikaru-kun are... it's my fault Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun are hurt, and it'll be my fault if they die too!'

"I'll give you another chance, though." Akito-san's words jolted Tohru-kun out of her thoughts. 'What...?'

"You cannot live in Shigure's home anymore, but you won't have your memories either. You must change how you look, and you must take on a whole new identity. If you ever come into contact with the others again, you must pretend to be someone other than yourself. If you tell them, you will have your memories erased and they will have a 'conflict' with me. Is it a deal?"

Tohru-kun's eyes widened. 'I'll keep my memories, and I get to start over...But I don't wanna leave! I love the Sohma family as if they were my own. But I guess I have no choice, right Mom? Right, Hikaru-kun?' Slowly, she reached out to shake Akito-san's outstretched hand.

A sneer formed on Akito-san's face. "Perfect. You must leave immediately. Act as if nothing's wrong. When you return to Shigure's house, run away as soon as possible."

"...Yes."

* * *

Tohru did just as Akito-san ordered. She acted as if nothing happened, and said she was fine. Hatori-san drove her back, and Shigure greeted her (Hatori had dropped him off to go shopping before he came to get Tohru; he couldn't bear to see what Akito would do to her). She assured him that Akito didn't hurt her, and went into her room, leaving behind a very relieved Shigure-san. 

Tohru-kun packed her things quickly, and left a note. During the middle of the night, she climbed down from her deck in front of the window by using the ladder she used to get to the roof to see Kyo-kun. She choked back tears as memories of him teaching her how to do the "Right Straight" technique, him confessing to her, everything he did up there with her. Tohru-kun climbed down and ran off. 'Gomen nasai, minna-san. But I'm sure you'll be better off without me.'

* * *

Shigure-san paced in front of Kyo's door. Hatori-san was checking up on the two. Shigure was talking to Mitchan while waiting. 

"Sensei, onegai! I'm sorry your cousins are hurt, but let your feelings out in your book! PLEASE FINISH BY THE DEADLINE!" Mitchan sobbed. Shigure thought she would be a good match with Ritchan. At that moment, Hatori came out of the room.

"Gomen, Mitchan, gotta go. Ja ne!" He cheerfully hung up, but not before he heard Mitchan's "NOOOOOO! TELL ME YOU'LL FINISH THE MANUSCRIPT! SENSEI!"

"Well, Hatori? What's the verdict?"

Hatori-san put down his stethiscope (A/N Sorry if I didn't spell that right!) and said, "They should wake up soon. They're wounds are healing faster than expected, which is a good sign." He looked around. "By the way, where's Honda-kun?"

"Ah, the flower is in her room sleeping. She didn't get up this morning to make breakfast, and with all the excitement going on, I didn't want to wake her," Shigure said, flapping his hand around. "I'm really such a kind person, aren't I?"

"I admit, that was unusually thoughtful of you, since most of the time you act stupid," to which Shigure-san said, "Oh, Ha'ri (A/N Sorry if I messed up on what Shigure calls Hatori. Can't remember off of the top of my head.), you're so cruel" and did crocodile tears.

"Shut up," Hatori said. "You don't want to wake her up, do you?"

Hatori stayed for a couple hours more, since he didn't have a busy schedule, and had some lunch. At thirteen o'clock (A/N For those of you who may not be familiar with international time, in Japan, instead of one P.M., it's thirteen), Hatori-san frowned. "Do you think she's sick?"

Shigure blinked. "Who?"

"Honda-kun, you idiot. She's been asleep much longer than expected."

There was a pause, and Shigure-san began to snicker and then exploded. "WHAT'S THIS? HA'RI, IS IT TRUE THAT YOU REALLY DO HAVE FEELINGS FOR TOHRU-KUN? IS THAT WHY YOU'RE WORRIED? WELL? IS IT!"

Another pause, and an anger mark grew on Hatori-san's head (A/N LOL that sounds funny). "What on earth is with you, always saying that to me? You're insulting Honda-kun too, you know."

Shigure, in his carefree tone, said, "Aw, but Tohru-kun doesn't mind..."

"Which brings me to my point. I think something's wrong. Let's knock on the door, and tell her she should wake up."

They walked over, and tried to knock as loudly as they could, but no reply came. "Tohru-kuuuun! Rise and shine!" Shigure called.

Still no reply.

"Honda-kun, you really should get up now. Please at least answer us." When it was greeted in silence, Hatori called out, "Honda-kun!" This was actually the first time he actually rose his voice since the whole Kana thing.

"This is getting weird." Before Hatori-san could protest, Shigure-san entered the room. He froze, and, curious, Hatori-san stepped in as well.

The covers were already made on her bed. The room was bare except for the furniture. There was nothing that originally belonged to her in this room that was there. And, of course, no Tohru-kun.

They spotted a note, and quickly read it.

_Dear Everyone,_

_Thank you all so much for everything you all have done for me. I can't express how much gratitude I feel! So, thank you.  
_

_I'm afraid I have to go. Don't worry, I'm going to be okay (I promise I won't live in a tent!). I won't be going to the same school, so you probably won't see me ever again. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to leave, but it would be better if I did. I'm just messing things up for everybody._

_Tell Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun that I'm sorry I have to do this, too. They were such great friends, as all of you were. Please forget that I ever even met you guys. Please believe me when I say, this is hurting me more than it is you. I wish that I could tell you all good-bye in person, but that would prevent me from leaving. _

_Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun: Gomen nasai. I never wanted you guys to get hurt because of me. I won't blame you if you never forgive me for my actions. Besides, I'm the one you guys fell in love with. It's my fault you're hurt... _(There were words blurred out because of her tears here)

_Please don't look for me. Take care of yourselves! I'm afraid it's back to take-out, Shigure-san. That is, unless Kyo-kun gets well enough and is willing to cook._

_I love you all as if you were my family. Thank you for everything._

_Love,_

_Tohru Honda-kun_

"S-She's gone..." Shigure-san managed to stutter out. He blinked, unable to believe the letter. She couldn't be gone. This must be some kind of joke.

"I know..." Hatori was in just as much surprise. They never in their wildest dreams believed something like this would happen...

"AAAAUUUUUUUUGHHHHHH!" Two yells sounding just like this occured. They ran back, and there were Yuki and Kyo, both at opposite sides of the room and on the floor because of their wounds.

"W-What the heck are you doing in my room, ya dang rat!"

"How should I know, stupid cat!"

If they weren't injured, they would be back to fighting in a second. "Well, I'm glad you guys are feeling better! You've been out for a whole week..." Shigure started.

"WHAT THE HECK WERE WE DOING HERE!"

"Well, Kyo-kun, this is your room..." to which Kyo-kun said "I know that!" "...and it was easier if Hatori-san checked on both of you in the same room, and so that basically covers it up."

"Whatever. Where's Tohru-kun?" Yuki asked.

"Yeah, where the heck is she? I...kinda have to apologize, for telling her..."

"She's not here," came Hatori's blunt reply.

"Huh?" The two boys said at the same time.

Shigure-san reluctantly gave them the note, and as the read it, their fists clenched.

"She couldn't possibly blame..." Kyo-kun began.

Hatori turned the opposite way. "She does. When people important to one get hurt, they can't help but blame themselves. They beat themselves up even harder when it included them in the argument, even just a little bit." 'Just like how Kana felt, and how I feel about Kana,' he thought.

"Still, I'm going after her," Yuki said. He tried to get up, but grimaced in pain. Kyo tried standing as well, but couldn't.

"I guess we have no choice but to let you guys go after her, but not until you feel better." The two reluctantly nodded, but in their minds they were already looking for Tohru.

* * *

Tohru rolled her suitcases over to an alley. She checked to make sure no one was looking, then cut her hair really short (as in shoulder length). She then left her things lie for a second unattended as she ran into the haircut place next door to die it blonde. When she came back to her things and saw herself in a puddle, she could hardly believe it was her. She looked kind of...cool. Tohru-kun smiled. She even looked a little tough! Uo-chan would be so proud. 

'That's right,' she thought somewhat sadly. 'I have to change my personality, too, or I would surely give myself away, even with my new hairstyle.' She sat down on her suitcase and thought. Tohru-kun glanced outside the alley and saw two teen ko-gals walking. 'I know! I'll become a gal, too! I'll be nice, but tough too. Maybe I could learn some martial arts, too! Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun would be surprised if they ever found out who I was, which they wouldn't.' She laughed a little, and decided to give some of her old clothes to a homeless shelter. "I guess I'm sorta homeless, too," Tohru-kun said gloomilly. She did have some money, not enough to rent an apartment, but enough to buy some clothes. She ran to a store, and got a whole ko-gal look. Proud of herself, she strolled down the street with her bags when she heard someone say, "Excuse me!"

She turned and saw a woman smiling nicely at her. "What's up?" Already she was beginning to change her language. The sooner she changed, the better.

"I was just wondering if you were homeless. It's a silly question, I know, but if you don't have any place to stay, you're welcome to stay with my family. This probably sounds weird to you, I'm sorry," she said. "I'm Himiko Sunatani. Hajimemashite!" The woman's smile grew.

"Nice to meet ya! I'm T... I mean, I'm Tsuki Nekono," Tohru, now Tsuki, said. "And yeah, I pretty much am homeless. Mucho thanks for the offer, but could I, like, see your place and family first? I don't want to make you guys even more crammed or anything."

Sunatani-san brought her to her home, which was all the way in Shibuya. She explained how they were thinking about adopting a girl around To-I mean Tsuki's- age, so this wasn't a totally out-of-the-blue matter. As the drove through Shibuya, she saw all the ko-gals that were there. She smiled. A perfect place to change her life.

They pulled in, and Tsuki met Kimoto, a twenty-year-old who would be her older brother. He was nice, but he and Tsuki occasionally butt heads (A/N Butt heads...Beavis and Butthead...Dunno why I'm typing this A.N,) after they got used to being brother and sister. There were twin girls too, about twelve years old, named Ai and Suki. After a month, they became a real family. Tohru even began calling them Mom and Dad, and Bro and Sisses, although her real mother would always be first in her heart. She never had siblings before, so it was kind of cool, and it was neat having a dad around. Tohru became known as the most famous ko-gal in Shibuya. Being a ko-gal wasn't entirely a made up personality; she really did feel like one. It basically felt like she was just showing a side of herself that she never showed before. She was still the kindest girl in the class, but if she saw bullies picking on innocent people, she got uber ticked off (she does have a tough past with bullies, after all). She began going to school after her first couple of weeks there, and was actually sometimes a troublemaker (disrupting the class, running in the halls, etc.), but she did manage to get good grades. Still, the Sohmas were always on her mind. Never once did she go without thinking of them. There were times when she cried herself to sleep at night, but no one noticed. Tsuki/Tohru wondered if Kyo and Yuki had ever recovered, and if they were angry or upset because she had left, or were glad. Were they looking for her? Were they trying as hard as they could to forget her? Had they fallen for someone else? She hoped they did, but for some reason, something inside her told her she would see them again.

* * *

"Nekono and Umaboshi! Sit down!" the teacher called angrilly. 

"You're getting way to carry (1), Rikono-sensei," Tsuki said as she sat down.

"Shut up and don't use ko-gal talk in this classroom!" That was basically impossible order on her part; most of the girls in the class were ko-gals, so that meant the language was used commonly in the room. "Anyway," Hisoshi-sensei continued, "I have an announcement. We will be sending one of our students to a different high school for the rest of the semester. I get to choose who will be going." She pointed at Tsuki. "Tsuki Nekono, you'll be going to Kaibara High School."

**Prettyinpinkgal: Whew, long chapter (hope it's as long as it looks!). Yeah, I'm totally into ko-gals (from SuperGALS! and stuff). I love the lingo :). For those who don't know, ko-gals are girls in Japan who are "valley girls", as translated in the Pretear manga. I got the slang from Super GALS! Hope ya'll luved the chappy and that updates to "Troubled Love" returned!  
**

**(1): CarryCarried away **


	8. Chapter Seven: Returning

**Prettyinpinkgal: Five words. You. Guys. Rock. So. Hard. I officially have 20 reviews. ...BOOYA! Sorry about the whole confusing thing! Oh, I'm working on this original novel (I think I mentioned this b4, or maybe it was on my Xanga), and my dad says that if it reaches 100 pages (it's nineteen computer pages so far), I can get it published! So please look for my book in the future! I'm not sure what it'll be called yet (I'm trying to get it to have a really deep and gripping title). I'll let you guys know when I get that figured out ;) Um, about Mayu-chan...she might seem a little harsh when she appears in this chapter, so I'm sorry that she's OOC. -.-" She's kinda difficult to do...or maybe it's just me. Probably the second one u.u Anywho, please enjoy the Furuba fic "Troubled Love" Chapter Seven ya'll! BTW, I just realized that I used two different names for Tsuki/Tohru's new teacher. He'll be called Rikono if he's mentioned again, k? Uh, I'm GUESSING hikari means light, but I'm not sure XP  
**

**Disclaimer: No ownie. I do own the song playing on Tohru's radio, "Memories" (creative title, huh?). I wanted it to be Japanese, except I'm not fluent enough in the language to do it, so the lyrics are "translated", which is why they don't rhyme. It's a kinda depressing song, but I wanted it to be related to how Tohru's feeling at that moment. Enjoy!  
**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER SEVEN: RETURNING**

"...You'll be going to Kaibara High School."

Tsuki blinked, unable to believe the news. She'd only gotten out of there one month ago! What if Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun recognized her? 'Guess that means I'll just have to be a lil tougher,' she thought, determined.

* * *

Yuki Sohma and Kyo Sohma had come back a week before. The girls in the class had all sent them candies while they were out of school, but it just made them more depressed, for it made them remember Tohru's homemade chocolates she got them for Valentine's Day. When walking home from school, they'd split up and scan the area again and again, visiting police stations and questioning passers-by if they'd seen a brown-haired girl who was sixteen years old "and on the air-headed side," as Kyo-kun always said. Nobody saw her. Uo-chan and Hana-chan also searched for their friend and threatened to beat the person to the pulp or shock them if they were lying. They normally got nowhere doing this. 

A week after Kyo and Yuki returned to school, Mayu-chan made an announcement. "Everybody, listen up...Yo Orangey! Stop daydreamin' and listen! Anyway, we're going to have a student from Shibuya named Tsuki Nekono for the rest of the semester. I want you guys to not act like idiots and be jerks to her. We want her to have a nice stay here. She'll be arriving in a couple days, so help her out here, okay? It's a brand new school for her, and in a new part of Japan, so she'll need all the help she can get." Little did she know that Tohru/Tsuki was once a second-year student at Kaibara, and one of her own students, nonetheless.

"Hai!" the students replied. In the minds of the girls, this was what they _really _wanted to say...

_"That girl better not speak to Sohma-kun..."_

_"Kyo-kun's all mine..."_

_"If she's pretty, she's dead..."_

(A/N Isn't that nice to think of a new kid?)

Arisa noticed that they had some murderous expression on their faces, and said, "Yo, do anything to New Kid and I'll rip your tounges out."

That made the girls look like _they _would get murdered.

The only ones not talking were Kyo and Yuki. They didn't talk that much anymore. They never even smiled (well, with Kyo that's kinda typical, but Yuki wasn't able to even attempt to fake a smile to people). It was like a voice-robbing desease had consumed them. And only Tohru was the cure...

* * *

**ONE DAY LATER DURING DINNER...**

Tsuki poked at her food. Traveling to Kaibara High was consuming her thoughts and made her lose her appetite. Although her heart ached to see Uo-chan, Hana-chan, and her Sohma friends again, her mind kept reminding her of the deal with Akito. If the Sohmas ever did find out who she really was, Akito would be able to find out, one way or another.

Her foster-father, Yoshimura, noticed that she wasn't eating. "Tsuki-chan, you okay? WAAH! You're not coming down with a fever, are you?" Yoshimura was a bit like the old Tohru.

"Uh, no. Just thinking, that's all," Tsuki replied plainly, not even glancing up.

Kimoto smirked. "Thinking...that's a first, Tsu--!" Before he could finish, Tsuki, who was beside him, punched (yup, she now knew the martial arts) him point blank in the face. He groaned at the pain while his nose began to bleed.

"Geez, shut UP! I was just thinking about what I'm gonna do 'bout living arangements when I arrive at Kaibara, 'kay? And as for thinking, I always think, just a lil less than others!" Tsuki added, making Ai and Suki laugh and agree. Noticing this, Tsuki fake-glared at the twins. "Mo (geez), not you guys too! You both are uber lucky you're little, or I wouldn't let you off so easily."

This went on for a while, with Tohru temporarilly forgetting her problem, when Himiko said, "Tohru."

Tsuki/Tohru froze. "E-Eh?"

"Tsuki," Tohru breathed a sigh of relief, "...we have a little going-away present for you, until we meet again." Tsuki closed her eyes as the family led her to her gift. "Now, open!" Tsuki looked, and squeeled. "EEK! A CELL! Omigosh!" She picked it up and loaded all the numbers of her friends' cells into her phone at lightning speed. She then got a pic of her family. 'Mom, this is incredible! A cell phone...' Suddenly, a flashback occured.

**FLASHBACK**

_It was a bright sunny day. Hikaru-kun and Tohru were out on a date. They were heading to see the movie "Tsuki no Hikari"(A/N Made it up). They walked past a shop, where Tohru-kun stopped and gasped. "Ah! Hikaru-kun, look!" He walked over and saw a cell phone. "I want that one so much, but I don't have the money..." She frowned.  
_

_"Hm? Well, why don't you ask your mom for some money?" Hikaru asked._

_"I don't want to. Mom and I are a little poor, so I don't want to burden her and ask her for something as pricy as a cell phone. She tries hard enough to make ends meet so we can pay our rent, and I have many things to be grateful for already, so I shouldn't be selfish." With that, Tohru gave a big grin to Hikaru, making him grin back. _

_"That's so like you, Tohru-chan, always thinking about others. Sounds to me like you get along really well with your mom, huh?"_

_"Yes! We're best friends!"_

_"And what about your father...?"_

_"Ah! Um, he died when I was really little from a fever, I think. I can't remember him too well."_

_Hikaru froze. "I-I'm so-"_

_"It's okay! It's been a long time since it happened."_

_The boy thought for a while. "Tohru-chan, when's your birthday?"_

_"Two weeks from today," she replied._

_Two weeks later, Hikaru was shot. They found that he had a cell phone in his pocket wrapped up. With it, there was a note which said, "Happy Birthday, Tohru-chan! I'll love you always."_

**END FLASHBACK**

Tohru's bangs covered her eyes, so the others didn't notice she was near tears. In a couple seconds, Tsuki regained her cool and her tears vanished. She went back to being cheerful and spunky, even though she cried when no one was around.

When Tsuki went to her room, she turned on the radio. Some new song was on, one that described how she felt.

_**I tried to forget, but my memories won't let me**_

_**Memories are supposed to one day be precious, but**_

_**Why do they still hurt after all this time?**_

_**The day you left me, I wanted to cry forever**_

_**Even now that is impossible**_

_**As my tears drip, I smile to everyone**_

_**How can they not see the real me?**_

_**I remember when I used to be truly happy.**_

_**Will anyone help me become that again? **_

_**

* * *

**_Tohru walked up to the closed door of 2-D (A/N Can't remember if this is the name of the classroom or not). She heard Mayu say, "Everyone, treat Nekono-san kindly. You can come in now, Nekono!" 'That's my cue,' she thought. She entered her old classroom. Her heart tightened when she saw Uo-chan and Hana-chan. She noticed the plastic smiles on the other girls' faces, and a couple of Kyo-kun's companions.

Then, she saw them.

Kyo and Yuki looked up, and their eyes widened when they saw her. 'They must think I look familiar.' The two boys looked like they had completely healed, but they didn't have that glow like they used to have. It broke her heart.

"So," Mayu-chan's voice penetrated her thoughts. "Why don't ya introduce yourself and tell us about yourself?"

"What's up? I'm Tsuki Nekono! Nice to meet ya'll. In Shibuya, I'm known practically the queen of the ko-gals! I'm a black belt in a lot of the martial arts, and I use my skills to beat up my older bro when he becomes an uber big pain in the butt."

"Wow, so you're a kick-butt girl, huh? Well, we need someone to show you around the school...let's see...Yuki, you have student council stuff, so Kyon, you go and show her around."

**Prettyinpinkgal: Please review :) I think I'm gonna write another Furuba fic today, just a one-shot. It's gonna be on when Tohru finally reaches her limit and gets angry. It'll be fun writing that...lol. Ja ne!**


	9. Chapter 8: Suffering & Transformation

**Prettyinpinkgal: The next chapter! Woohoo! Thank you everybody for all the support and reviews! You all rule! Nearly fifty reviews! XD Well, here we go!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own! Mwahaha if I did there would be a video game where you could date any of the Furuba characters, depending on your gender, like if you were a guy you could date Kagura or Tohru, while girls could date Yuki...or Kyo...(drools) No! Kyo's all mine! (starts hugging/choking a Kyo plushie if plushies could choke lol!) I also don't own Super GALS or Princess Tutu.  
**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER EIGHT: PAIN, SUFFERING, AND TRANSFORMATION  
**

Tohru groaned under her breath. Of _course_ it had to be someone she was trying to get away from. But she kept the gal attitude up. There was no way she'd screw up after she came this far. "Sure, whatev. Who's Kyo?"

Kyo Sohma stood, seeming almost impartial, but a drop of his toughness was still in his eyes. "I'm Kyo. Come on, let's go." He motioned for her to follow, and they closed the door behind them.

* * *

Yuki Sohma walked out five minutes later. Since no one was in the hallway, he spoke out loud. "That girl..." he said. "She reminds me of Tohru-kun somewhat." His face showed a spark of hope, which quickly disappeared as he shook his head, his silver hair blowing. "No, it couldn't be. She's not like Tohru-kun. Nekono-san must be a different person." _But still... _He shook the thought from his mind. It couldn't be her. 

Or so he thought.

* * *

"Here's the cafeteria," Kyo said, holding the door open so she could peek in, although Tsuki/Tohru had already seen it many times before. 

"Can you, like, eat on the roof here?" she asked with her kogal-ish talk.

Kyo shrugged. "Sure. That's what my dang cousin and I do with To...with some friends." Even though it had been a month since she left, he still wasn't able to say her name.

Tohru's heart sank. He knew he was about to say her name. Before she realized what she was saying, she said, "Um, do you want to talk about it, Kyo-kun?"

Kyo whirled around to glare at her. "Don't call me Kyo-kun! Only Tohru can call me that!" He realized what he said, and immediately cooled down. "Sorry," he said. "Forget I said anything."

Tsuki frowned. "Omigosh," she said in a fake-ticked voice. "That was so uber lame!" She then fake-grinned as she said, "Nah, it's fine. That Tohru person must have been somethin' special." She inwardly blushed. She couldn't believe she had said something like that about herself. But she felt like she was going to cry. Kyo still wasn't over her. He still loved her. And seeing him like this...all because of her...

"Tohru..." Kyo began. He ran his hand through his orange hair. "She's...She's a memory, that's all. Come on. I'll show you the library next. By the way, you can sit with us at lunch, if you want to."

Tsuki's eyes widened. Then she smiled. "Sure! Thanks."

"Let's go."

* * *

**LUNCHTIME**

Tsuki hesitantly walked up the steps. Would everyone be hurting? Would they find out her identity? She took a breath and clenched her fist. _No, _she thought. _Everything will be fine. There's no way that I could possibly be found out. I don't like the thought of fronting _("telling a lie" in gal-talk)_, but it's for the best._

Tsuki pretended to fix her loose sock, then opened the door to the roof. "Oh, here she is," she heard Uo say. Tsuki closed the door behind her and walked up to the group. When she saw everyone, she thought she would cry again. Instead, she turned back into the queen of the kogals.

"Yo! What's up? I'm Tsuki Nekono."

Momiji smiled happily. "You're that kogal person! Nice to meet you, I'm Momiji Sohma! Doesn't she look sort of like Tohru, you guys? Huh? Hu...Waaaah! Kyo's hitting me!"

Kyo was grinding his fist into Momiji's head. "Stop talkin', runt!"

Tohru sweatdropped. Some things never change.

Haru spoke up. "I'm Hatsuharu Sohma. Hey."

"Pleased to meet you, Nekono-san. I'm Saki Hanajima. Welcome to our school." Hana said this in her quiet nature.

"Hey," Tsuki replied back. She glanced over and saw Yuki.

"How are you enjoying our school, Nekono-san?" Yuki asked politely.

"It's not too dingy, so it's all good!" said Tsuki, giving a thumbs up.

Yuki blinked. "Dingy?"

Tsuki stared at him for a moment. "Ooohh. That's right; you don't seem to have many kogals here. Dingy means dull and stingy. Common knowledge for us gals."

The rest of the afternoon went by pretty well, as well as the next two weeks. And luckily, no one suspected that the kogal known as Tsuki Nekono was really the girl who mysteriously vanished, Tohru Honda. Kyo and Yuki actually seemed a bit more happy, even though it wasn't by much.

Tohru walked down the hall, happy she didn't give away her identity yet. She smiled. Everything was going great. Suddenly...

"Whoa! Watch out!" A guy who was running down the hall noticed Tsuki, but didn't have time to stop. "Aaah!" The two were knocked over. "Sorry..." the boy said. Except, he didn't see anyone.

_Maybe I imagined her, _he thought as he got up, brushed himself off, and walked away. What he didn't notice, though, was the little duck sitting on the floor.

**Prettyinpinkgal: Tohru transforms! I got the duck idea after watching Princess Tutu. Ducks rule >. At least cartoon ducks do. Please review!**


	10. Chapter Nine: New Curse, New Freedom

**Prettyinpinkgal: Holla mi amigos y amigas! Wazzup? One more review and we reach fifty! Yay! Thanks everyone! I'm honored that this story is the first Furuba fanfic you've read and you like it, Ellopoppet! (rereads last sentence and sweatdrops) That sounded really cheesy. I'm sorry. But I really am happy about it! There's no extra animal to the Chinese Zodiac in this fic, Nyrocat. You'll have to read to see what happens...:)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Just Hikaru. :)**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER NINE: NEW CURSE, NEW FREEDOM**

The duck blinked and looked around, trying to figure out why everything seemed to be so high. Tsuki went to rub her sore head, but she found that she didn't have an arm; she had a _wing_. In shock, she went over to the nearby puddle by a broken water fountainShe gasped. _What on earth just happened, Mom? _She was in a small duckling's body. "Wh...what happened?" she whispered. Tohru's eyes widened. She could talk in Japanese still, not in quacks. Just like...

_Just like the Sohmas when they transformed._

What made her transform? Why was she a duck? She recalled how the boy who fell on her accidentally hugged her on the way down. "Oh gosh..." _Does this mean I'm cursed like the Sohmas? Am I going to go through with this every time I'm hugged by someone? _the officially freaked out duck-girl thought to herself. Suddenly, she closed her eyes and a light surrounded Tohru. She opened them and saw she was a human again. She sighed with relief when she saw her clothes were still on.

"Honda-san?" she heard someone say. Tsuki whirled around. "Nekono-san?" the person said. It was Yuki.

_Thank God he didn't find out who I was, _Tsuki thought, breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh, Yuki-kun, it's you. Ya know, you _can _call me Tsuki. You don't have to be so formal!"

Yuki smiled halfheartedly. "I couldn't even call _her _by her given name until a few days before she left..." he murmered sadly to himself.

Tsuki frowned and looked at the floor. She'd give anything to tell him that she was Tohru, but that would cause more problems. "You mean Tohru Honda, right?"

Yuki nodded and stared at the floor as well. After a few moments, Yuki said, "You sort of remind me of her."

"Who, Honda?"

Yuki nodded. "Yes. You seem tough, but at the same time, you look like her a little."

Tsuki grinned. "So I'm guessing this Tohru wasn't quite the kogal type!"

Yuki smiled slightly. "Yeah, she was really sweet and considerate...Ah! Not saying that you're horrible or anything! I..."

"It's okay! I get whatcha mean." And she did. She knew more than anyone how different she was. "Hey, by the way, could you please help me with my English homework?" Tsuki put on a pleading look, just in case he tried to refuse.

The Rat nodded. "Sure. You can come over to our house, and I'll help you."

_Crud! His hous_e_! It's hard enough avoiding telling everyone who I am as it is! _"Oh no, that's all right! I don't wanna bug you or any..."

"No, I insist. I'll take you there after school," he replied, smiling.

"Uh, sure. Thanks." The two began walking to buy lunch when they walked on a wet section of the floor. All of a sudden, Tohru slipped (A/N You knew it was coming! XP). "Whoa! Watch out!" she cried as she rammed into the unsuspecting Sohma and made them crash onto the floor. She almost freaked out, about to appologize for turning him into a rat...again. Then Tohru remembered how she was supposed to not know about the curse.

Calmly, Tohru said, "Sorry 'bout that. You okay?" She expected to see a little rat, but instead...

"I...I'm fine." Yuki looked just as shocked as she was as they both realized he was still in human form! "Uh...how about you? You're fine? Good, then I have to go! Please excuse me!" With that, Yuki rushed off, leaving a very, very confused Tohru behind.

_There's something strange about today..._ she thought as she watched him run off, still shocked. If she hugged him by accident, why didn't she herself turn into an animal?

* * *

Yuki kept running, shocked at the previous event. Why wasn't he a rat? What had happened? 

Finally, Yuki gathered up Haru, Momiji, and the one he refered to as "stupid cat".

"What do you want, you dang rat?" Kyo said semi-angrily. He still wasn't quite himself.

"Shut up and I'll tell you," Yuki shot back. "I accidentally was hugged by Nekono-san when she slipped, and I didn't turn into my Zodiac animal!"

"Eh? How can that be?" Momiji asked as energetic as ever. The two others were too stunned for words.

"I don't know. I think you three should 'accidentally' hug some girls and see what happens."

"What if we turn into our animals? Then what do we do?" Haru asked.

"We'll have to do our best not to let anyone see, and if they do, then we'll have to have Hatori erase their memories," Yuki said, regretfully.

Well, the quartet "accidentally" got hugged, but nothing happened. Why this was occuring, no one knew. But the more they thought about it, the more they assumed that a certain Sohma was behind this.

Akito.

**Prettyinpinkgal: I know, it's so unbelievably short that it's not even funny. I'm sorry! But, hey, it's an update, right? So that's a good thing, right? Well, ttfn!**


	11. Chapter Ten: Confrontation

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hi! Get this: I'm moving! AGAIN! And I'm moving from Pennsylvania to all the way in Minnesota. Hee, I'm gonna be in the same state as Mall of America :)! I'm gonna miss my friends a lot, though. And in case any of my friends are reading this: YOU GUYS RULE! (coughs) Okay, got that off my chest. Anyway, here is the next chapter of "Troubled Love"! And thanks for reviewing! Here's some pie. (hands out pie) Okay, onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: ...Why would I be writing on FanFiction if I'm Natsuki Takaya...? So nope, I don't own Furuba cuz I ain't her! (yay bad English!) Oh, but I own Hikaru.  
**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER TEN: CONFRONTATION**

Yuki and Kyo walked with Tohru/Tsuki back to Shigure's place. It felt great to Tohru; here she was, walking with two of her best friends back to her old home. Only problem was, they didn't know her secret identity, and Shigure wouldn't, either.

Not to mention, there's that whole transforming-into-a-duck thing. Why on earth was _that _happening? And what about Yuki not turning into a rat?

Tohru sighed as she thought of the long, long day. _When did my life get so strange? _she thought.

Kyo noticed the sigh. "You okay?" he asked. "It's not like you not to be energetic."

"Oh. Kyo-kun," Tsuki said, being knocked out of her thoughts. "Sorry about that! I just was thinking about...things."

"Oh." That was all he said. It was probably the shortest thing Kyo-kun ever said.

"Now that I think about it," Tohru said, walking ahead and facing the two boys. "You guys look like you're thinking about things too. Is everything okay?" she asked, concerned.

The two froze. Then Yuki shook his head. "Everything's fine." And the three continued walking. Although Tsuki acted like nothing was bothering her, she hurt inside.

"That's right," she murmered to herself as her hair bounced with each step. "I'm not Tohru in their eyes."

Kyo looked at her. "Did you say something?"

Tsuki gasped. She had no idea she said that out loud! "O-of course not! I'm not the type of person to talk to herself. Ha ha ha ha ha!" She forced herself to laugh while Kyo raised an eyebrow and looked ahead again. She mentally sighed. _At least he didn't actually hear me!_

Finally, after traveling through the woods for about ten minutes, they arrived at Shigure's house. It was amazing how much seeing that building meant to Tohru!

"So, what do you think?" Yuki asked her.

"Oh, uh, it's wonder-I mean, awesome!" she stuttered. Sometimes it was hard being both the sweet Tohru Honda and the tough Tsuki Nekono.

They walked a little further and arrived at the door. Yuki pushed it open and cried, "We're home!"

Shigure popped his head in. "Welcome home, Yuki-kun. Kyo-kun." He then noticed the kogal at the door. "Oh, who's this?"

Tohru felt like she could cry. But she sucked in her tears and gave a confident smile. "Hey! I'm Tsuki Nekono. I'm a student visiting at Kaibara High."

Shigure gave his normal no-worries grin. "And I'm Shigure Sohma, Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun's cousin."

After the introductions, the three walked into the kitchen. Or, at least, what was _supposed _to be a kitchen. Without Tohru there, the Sohmas never really bothered cleaning it again. So, the kitchen looked almost as bad as when Tohru first came to live in the Sohma house. Almost.

"Do you want something to drink?" Yuki asked politely.

"Oh, uh, no thanks."

"All right then. Let's get down to work." They sat at the nearby table, Yuki helping Tohru and Kyo doing his own homework. The hours ticked by, and it was time for dinner. Of couse, no way were Yuki or Shigure cooking, and Kyo was sick of doing the cooking after only a couple times. So, they went to their usual resort: takeout. When it came, they all said, "Itadikimasu! (Thanks for the food, let's eat, etc.)" and dug in. After a bit, it was eighteen-thirty (six thirty). The teens had finished their homework, but they hung out for a while longer. Haru and Momiji came over, which they had started doing daily ever since Tohru left, for it made it feel like they were closer to her.

It was then that a knock came at the door. All six heads perked up, and Shigure slid the door open. "Hello," he said cheerfully, the most cheerful he'd been since Tohru left. Tsuki reminded him a lot of Tohru somehow (A/N Gee, I wonder why XP). Then his eyes widened.

"Hello, Shigure," the figure at the door said. The other five came over to the door to see who it was, but their eyes widened in fear when they saw who it was.

Akito.

"Hello, Yuki. Kyo. Haru. Momiji," he said, nodding at each person. Then he came to the girl standing there, trying to act confused. However, he knew exactly who it was. Her face was exactly the same as that _other _girl's. Her hair and clothes were different, but her face had a definite likeness to Tohru Honda's.

"Hello, there," Akito said with a "kind" smile. "Who might you be?"

Tsuki gathered her courage and acted like a stranger. "Tsuki Nekono. And you?"

Akito twitched. _How disrespectful! _Then he calmed himself and gave a smile. "I am Akito Sohma, head of the Sohma household."

Tsuki's eyes widened. "Whoa, seriously? That's so way cool! Oh, I guess I should be more polite, huh?" she said as she forced out a laugh. Bowing, she said, "Hajimemashite, Sohma-san (Pleased to meet you)."

Akito said, "May I speak to you for a moment, Nekono-san?" The other Sohmas' eyes widened.

"Akito-san, please--" Shigure began to protest.

"It's not like I'll do anything to her. I just want to speak with her for a moment. Is that alright with you, Nekono-san?"

"Uh, sure."

Kyo butted in. "Tsuki, don't..."

He was cut off when Akito grabbed Tohru's wrist and brought her outside, where the others couldn't hear. As much as the others wanted to keep Tsuki safe, they decided it might be better if they waited for her to get back.

Meanwhile, Akito turned and sent a malicious smile in Tohru's direction, making her shudder. "It has been a while, _Honda-san_," he said, spitting out her name.

Her eyes widened. "Uh...I'm not..."

"I know you're really Tohru Honda. I thought I told you to avoid contact with the Sohmas," snarled Akito.

"I tried! But I had no choice but to go to their school, and they ended up becoming friends with the new me. Please, Akito-san! Please don't hurt them!" she cried, bowing.

"Do they know?" she heard him ask.

"No. They have no idea who I really am," Tohru replied, still bowing.

"Then it's alright. After all, I did tell you that you could come in contact with them _if _you keep your true identity a secret." Tohru stood upright, grateful.

"Arigato, Akito-san! (Thank you!)" she cried. _Thank goodness they won't be hurt!_

"However, should they find out about your true identity, they will be punished. As will you," he added, with a evil look.

"I'll make sure that won't happen," she said bravely. Then, she remembered. "Akito-san. This will sound strange, but I turned into a duck earlier, like the Sohmas turn into animals. I was wondering if you knew what happened..."

She was cut off when a hard slap hit her. She stumbled backwards instead of being thrown back. Karate can be very helpful sometimes.

"Are you suggestion _I _would have something to do with that?" Akito barked.

"N-no," Tohru stuttered. "I was just...I mean, I transformed and Yuki-kun didn't..."

Akito's eyes widened and glared. "What happened," he said instead of asked, his voice quiet. Tohru explained what had happened earlier and Akito turned around. The girl blinked. By the way Akito was acting, it sounded as if he was...confused.

Finally, Akito spoke, Tohru unable to see his face. "I don't know what happened that made you transform. It didn't have to do with me. But I don't care about what happens to you," he said bluntly. "It's the Sohma Curse I'm concerned about."

"Eh?" Tohru asked.

"The curse shouldn't break as long as there is a head of the family alive. So it's impossible that the curse is broken. I...don't know what's going on."

**Prettyinpinkgal: It was short, wasn't it? Yes, it's short. I'm sorry! TT And I think it was rushed! Wasn't it rushed? I think it was rushed :( (flustered) But...I don't want to take longer updating, so I'm going to give it to you guys as it is. Um, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, even if it was short and rushed...(sobs and ends up sounding like Ritsu) I'M SORRRY! I'M SO SOOORRRRYYYY!**

**(coughs) Um, so, I'm going to quit complaining and I'm going to give you guys a chance to complain. Again, I'm REALLY sorry! **


	12. Chapter Eleven: An Eventful Evening

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hello, anyone who is still reading this story! Please forgive my long absence. As you know from my last author's note, I had moved shortly after the last chapter was posted. Soon after that, I entered high school, my obsession with Furuba faded (yes, you may virtually shoot me in your reviews for this), and I then was occupied with mainly my Howl's Moving Castle fanfiction, "Destiny", and a couple of other stories which have been very popular. There's also the big factor of simply not knowing where to go with this fanfiction. However, I'm determined to trudge through it, and I'll start it now.**

**I think this story might just have a few chapters more, just so that it's an enjoyable read but nothing too huge plot-wise. I'm sorry to those who were expecting a better comeback.  
**

**So, for those who don't want to reread the entire story thus far, Tohru was confessed to by Yuki and Kyo, but she was still concerned about her lost love from middle school, who died because of a love triangle. Yuki and Kyo got into a fight over her and ended up badly injured, which caused Akito to order Tohru to stay away from the Sohma family. She knew they would not let her go if they knew of the deal, so she left a note and disappeared from their lives without saying goodbye in person. She was adopted by the Sunatani family, and she changed her appearance to seem like a kogal. She then was transferred to Kaibara again for a semester. Tohru, aka Tsuki Nekono, befriended the Sohmas all over again, only to discover their curse had vanished while she would turn into a duck! After an encounter with Akito, Tohru finds out that even he has no idea what's going on!  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: AN EVENTFUL EVENING  
**

"The-then...eh?" asked a bewildered Tohru. "This doesn't make any sense! I mean, I always wished everyone's curses would be lifted, but..."

"Still, it should have been impossible. And I would have known if you had triggered the end of the curse," Akito muttered, more to himself than to Tohru.

The two pondered. Akito then stated, "Our curse...It has a will of its own, as generations before had noticed. So perhaps it decided on its own to transfer itself onto you? But it rarely does anything on its own... It's as though you've been accepted into the Sohma family, which would explain why you didn't turn into an animal when you bumped into Yuki earlier, since, as you know by now, Sohmas can't turn other Sohmas into their respective creatures. But more than that, you're the only 'Sohma' cursed. How peculiar."

"Do...you think the curse will return to its normal state?"

Akito paused. With great bitterness, he said, "No. It will never return to the true Sohma family."

Akito and Tohru returned to the Shigure's house soon after, lacking anything else to say. Akito then took his leave, allowing the five remaining Sohmas to question Tohru relentlessly.

"What happened?"

"Are you alright?"

"Did he hurt you?"

Tsuki forced a laugh. "I'm completely fine! You guys act like he's some sort of monster! All he did was ask me of how I came to know you guys, that's all. Jeez, chillax."

The group scrutinized her for a moment, leaving Tohru very grateful that the red mark from the slap had faded. They seemed to accept her explanation, although Kyo and Yuki still seemed wary. However, as the evening progressed, and Tohru's act was flawless as ever, they seemed to relax.

Finally, Tsuki announced she had to go home. Kyo and Yuki offered to walk her to the bus stop, but she declined, wanting to focus on her thoughts instead of worrying about her acting skills.

A stick cracked behind her when she got a few hundred feet away from the Sohma house. Immediately, Tohru recalled that night Kyo had apologized to her. And she had thought he was a pervert! Tohru couldn't help but laugh a little at the thought. After glancing behind her and believing the sound to have only been from some animal, she could not keep the memories from flowing freely in her mind.

_I had such a good time with everyone, _she thought miserably, trying her best to keep her tears at bay. _Why did it turn out like this?_

There was again a crackling sound behind her. Tohru whirled around again, but saw only inky darkness. She picked up the pace to be on the safe side, although she continued to assure herself that it was only an owl, or a squirrel, or some other cute creature.

The Sohma house was now long out of sight. The only choice now was to keep going. _I-I know martial arts now, so I'm fine! _she told herself. _Fight!_

On reflex, she stopped dead in her tracks as she heard a sound. It was...someone chuckling?

"Eep," she squeaked, taking off in a sprint.

_Of course! _she thought, now near tears for an entirely different reason. _Of course I run into some real perverts this time! Mom! Kyo-kun! Yuki-kun!_

She glanced up and slid to a stop. Four young men, probably in their early twenties, stood in front of her with frightening grins on their faces.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" one asked, who she assumed was the leader.

"A cute kogal, that's who," another answered.

"Why don't you come with us, sweetheart?"

The leader stepped forward, reaching out a large hand.

"N-no!" Tohru screamed, kicking him where it hurt.

"You'll pay for that!" a blonde said, charging at her as another grabbed her from behind.

More and more appeared. Tohru knew, even with all her training, she could not face so many on her own. The blonde grabbed her chin roughly and slowly lowered his face towards hers, enjoying the fear in her eyes and the terrible anticipation.

She shut her eyes then, terrified, trying to think of something--anything--that would at least mentally take her away from what was about to occur.

"_Get your -censored- hands off her!"_

Her eyes shot open again as the hand which had held her in chin in such an iron grip was ripped away, and its owner's body crumpled to the ground. Then the hands which had held her still were gone, and she was shoved towards one of the trees along the edge of the path. Tohru's body shook terribly as she sunk to the ground, too shaken up to even consider running while she could.

The sounds of fists meeting noses, of yells of pain and anger, echoed in Tohru's ears, despite her attempts to block out the noise. After deciding that it was better to know what was happening rather than be in terrible ignorance, she slowly looked up and saw Kyo facing down all twenty of the gang members. She felt tears stream down her cheeks as she witnessed Kyo beating up others and being beaten himself.

Carefully, she stood, and slapping her face a few times in an attempt to pull herself together, she barged over there, trying to push all timidness aside.

"Hey, you jerks! Over here!" she screamed, charging and throwing a perfect kick at someone's head, barely avoiding Kyo. "S-sorry," she quickly apologized to him as she punched another one right in the stomach.

He quickly got over his surprise and shouted, "Are you crazy?! Get out of here!"

"Not until I get back at these guys!" _I don't want you to be hurt too. I don't want anyone else I care about to get hurt!_

"Screw this!" one of the guys yelled. "The girl's not even that pretty!" He struggled to stand and then ran down the path as fast as possible.

"W-wait for me!" one of his friends screamed, touching his nose, glancing at the blood on his hand, and then running away.

Soon, all the attackers were gone, and Kyo and Tohru sunk to the ground in exhaustion. "You okay?" he asked, breathless.

She nodded.

He managed a short laugh. "We gave them one heck of a fight, didn't we?"

She nodded again.

Kyo glanced at her, managing a small smile. "This isn't like you. You're never this quiet."

Again, a nod.

He sighed. "Nekono, say something."

"...H...How did you find me?"

Kyo's eyes widened. Perhaps it was only his mind playing tricks on him, but her voice sounded surprisingly like that girl who had been closest to his heart. "Oh, well, I had this bad feeling soon after you left, and I figured it was probably nothing. But I decided it wouldn't hurt to follow you to make sure you were safe."

Tsuki muttered something, but he couldn't make out what it was. Something about "last time"? But that didn't make sense.

He hesitated. What was he supposed to do in a situation like this? Despite all her talk and her being trained in martial arts, she was still obviously shook up. Should he put a hand on her shoulder? Bring her back to Shigure's house? Walk her back to her house?

His mind reeling, he decided to talk. "Uh, so. You're pretty good."

Silence.

"How long have you been taking lessons?"

The crickets chirped around them.

He ran his hand through his hair, trying to make out what he should do or say to comfort her. But she was a girl, and the only girl he had ever talked to--really talked to--was...

"You're acting like your old self again," Tsuki whispered, barely audible.

"What do you mean?"

"The you from before."

"Before what?" he demanded, believing that she certainly couldn't be talking about before _that_.

"...Sorry."

Suddenly, her small frame began trembling from the sobs which now came forth. "I'm so sorry!" she cried. "Why? Why is it that I always do this to those I care about?! I always hurt everyone! It's not fair! Oh, Kyo-kun, I'm sorry! I'm so, so, so sorry! You even got beat up because of me! You easily could have been--!" Her voice failed her as she completely gave in to the tears she had held back. "The only thing good about meeting me," she hiccuped a minute later, a minute after Kyo had begun helplessly patting her head, "is that I've managed to bear the burden of your curse. You're free from _that _now, at least."

His hand froze in midair. "Curse?" he repeated.

He stared at the girl before him. She was the same size as her. She had her eyes, her lips, her cheeks, and sometimes even her smile. And there was something sad, so sad, in those eyes now, something that had always been almost perfectly veiled.

"Tohru," he breathed.

Her head whipped up, her hands covering her mouth in horror. She now shook her head, her dyed hair brushing against her cheeks. "I-I'm not her."

"Like heck you're not!" he growled. "What's happened to you?! Why did you leave? Why _this_?" he asked, referring to her blonde hair and knee socks. "You had us worried sick!"

"I-I'm not her!" she cried, tears streaming down her face again.

Kyo's glare subsided. "You idiot," he said tensely, but softly. "Why won't you be yourself? Why are you acting like this?"

"You don't know anything," she told him. Kyo's glare momentarily returned, but it faded again as soon as he realized that he wasn't insulting him, only ordering him. "You don't know the whereabouts of Tohru Honda, and you haven't seen her since the day she left. Right?"

He eyed her. "Right," he finally said.

"Not a word of this to anyone," she told him.

"But they--"

"Not to anyone."

He ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. "Fine, fine. But since I know about you being, you know, _you_, could you at least tell me what's going on? And what was that stuff about the curse?"

She glanced around. "Not here."

He paused. "There's a McDonald's near here."

"Okay."

* * *

"Here."

Tohru glanced up to see Kyo with her chocolate milkshake. "Thank you," she said softly, taking it.

"So tell me everything," he said impatiently.

And she did. Every terrible detail, every not-so-bad occurrence, was told, and Kyo left his fries untouched as he listened to her tale.

She finished, ending with what she and Akito had discussed earlier that day. Her companion almost forgot to speak.

"And you went through all that by yourself?" he managed to ask. "You had to change everything about yourself because Akito forced you to?"

"I didn't want to risk running into any of you. Not as Tohru Honda, anyway. I'm sorry for lying."

Kyo sighed. "Nah, it's fine. I don't like it, but I understand. It's not your fault anyway. It's mine."

Tohru blinked. "What?"

"I'm the one who confessed. I'm the one who got into that fight. If I hadn't... Keep your mouth shut, Tohru. Despite whatever Akito's drilled into your head, it's not your fault."

Tohru glanced down for a moment, then met his eyes again. "How about a truce? It's no one's fault."

"Except Akito's."

"But I can sort of understand his reasoning," she said. Upon receiving Kyo's stern look, she relented and agreed. "Okay, so I guess it is his fault." She paused, then, with a horrified expression, asked, "Have I gotten mean? I mean, meaner than I usually am?"

"If that's what you call mean, then I hate to hear what you'd call me," Kyo replied, chuckling for the first time in a long while.

Tohru noticed this, and could not help but beam. "You're very nice, though, Kyo-kun!"

He stopped laughing, and his cheeks turned slightly pink as he glanced away.

"What is it?" Tohru asked.

"It's just..." His face turned a darker shade. "I missed that. Hearing you say my name."

Tohru blushed as well, trying to cool down her face by drinking her milkshake.

"By the way," Kyo continued hurriedly, "what did you mean when you said you always hurt everyone?"

Tohru froze, and because of this Kyo knew she was keeping one last secret.

"Besides my mom.... There was another person I know who was hurt. Who was killed." Her fists clenched under the table. "I...I was involved in a love triangle before. I was, am, in love with my senpai, Hikaru-kun."

Kyo managed to keep his face calm. "Okay."

"And, another guy from school, he, well, confessed to me after I started dating Hikaru-kun. H-he told me that if he couldn't have me, nobody would. And so he pulled out a gun."

"What?!"

Tohru put a finger to her lips, bobbing her head in apology to the other customers. Turning to Kyo, she said, "Yes, so he took out a gun, and Hikaru-kun pushed me out of the way. Hikaru-kun...he got shot. He died that night."

All the jealousy Kyo had been feeling vanished. "Tohru," he said softly. "I...I don't know what to say."

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything."

Her phone went off. "Do you mind if I answer this?" she asked.

"Uh, go ahead."

"Okay, thanks. Ah, I think I hit speaker phone! Uh, how do you turn it off-- Ah, she'll hang up! Hello?"

**"Tsuki-chan, is that you? Why are you talking so formally?"**

Tohru looked at Kyo with such a panicked expression that he had to turn away to avoid laughing. "Uh, 'cuz I'm talking someone who speaks really formally and I guess it rubbed off! Hahaha!"

'Speaks formally'? Kyo snorted. Tohru waved at him to be quiet.

**"Oh? Well, could you come home now, Tsuki? It's getting near your curfew."**

"Oh, I'm sorry! Ah, that is.... Fine, fine. I'm coming."

**"Haha! That's the Tsuki we know. Okay, I'll see you later."**

"Okay, bye."

She hung up, sighing. "That was strange."

"Nice lying."

"Thank you. Well, I have to go." Tohru opened her mouth to say something else, but then shut it.

Kyo smiled. "Got it. I'll keep my mouth shut. And if we're alone, I can talk to you like you're Tohru instead of Tsuki, right?"

Tohru smiled. "You've gotten like Hana-chan. You knew when I was in trouble, and now you can tell what I'm thinking. And yes, I'd like that."

Ten minutes later, he walked her to the bus stop, waving back when she gave a small, shy wave of her own. He stared after her long after the bus had faded from sight.

**Prettyinpinkgal: So the writing sucks. Believe me, I know. I'll try to get it to improve later on. But I hope you like this chapter's twist of events! Please review so I know that people are still reading!**


	13. Chapter Twelve: Rejected and Dejected

**Prettyinpinkgal: Well, I still have yet to receive any reviews, but I see some people have favorited this story, so thank you to those who did! I hope this chapter is enjoyable as well. I noticed a mistake in one of the previous chapters: Shibuya is a shopping district, so I'm not sure if it would have regular houses. However, since this is a fictional story and it has girls turning into ducks, why not make it so that you can live in Shibuya as well? So that's that.  
**

**By the way, I forgot to mention it last chapter but I finished the whole Furuba series. Although I said my obsession for it has faded, I'm still a fan. It's such a great series X3. But another series has achieved #1 in my mind: Dengeki Daisy. Look it up on manga fox. It's fantastic. They really need to release it in the U.S.**

**1) Nee-chan = a form of "older sister" which is more affectionate and close than respectful.**

**2) Kyo-nii-chan = basically means "big brother Kyo", since Kyo is older than Suki and Ai.  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER TWELVE: REJECTED AND DEJECTED  
**

The next day, Tohru was absent. Kyo, upon realizing this, could not help but glare throughout the entire day, continually glancing back at "Tsuki's" empty desk.

"Hey, Kyon. What's with the long face?" Uotani asked once the final bell rang.

"Nothing, now shut up and leave me alone."

"Excuse me?!"

Hanajima smiled at her friend. "There, there, Arisa. He's only sulking because Nekono isn't here."

"HUH?!" Kyo cried.

Uotani stared at her friend. "I think you're off. There's no freaking way Kyon could be in love with Nekono. He didn't really care very much whether she was around before."

"You had a study group with her last night, didn't you?" Saki asked a frozen Kyo. "So something must have happened last night to make you so annoyed by her absence."

"Yeah? Well nothing did, so deal with it!" Kyo shouted at her.

"Is it because her face reminds you of Tohru's?" was Saki's response.

The class, who had been watching the squabble with great interest and had been commenting the entire time, fell silent. Yuki, who had not moved from his seat, stared straight ahead. Even Uotani averted her eyes.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Kyo asked.

"You were in love with her. Are you sure your interest in Nekono is for Nekono herself or for her resemblance to Tohru? Although," Hanajima said, thinking out loud, "her waves were strangely similar to Tohru's."

Kyo eyed her. Despite Hana's blunt nature, it was obvious that her eyes held more pain than usual. She missed her friend far more than she could say, and this made him feel guilty. But he did promise Tohru, and it was up to her to come clean or not.

Unable to determine a response, he got up and left without a word.

* * *

Kyo looked at the map in dismay. Although it was accompanied by written directions, he still could not make heads or tails of it. He had gotten the paper from Tohru the night before, just before she had left.

_"Um," she had begun, taking out a notebook from her bag and ripping out a page, "in case you need something, or want to just talk, I live here. You're welcome to visit anytime. But my adoptive family has no idea of my real self, remember, so please be careful."_

_She still can't make any decent directions, _he thought in annoyance, shoving the paper in his pocket and walking through Shibuya without the slightest clue as to where he was going.

"Uh, hey," he said to some passing gals. "Do you happen to know a Tsuki Nekono?"

The girls, who were slightly younger than him, grinned. "Do we ever! She's, like, so awesome! She fights for the peace in Shibuya!"

_This is the kind of reputation she has as Tsuki Nekono?! _"Do you know where she lives?"

"Onee-chan (1) is friends with her," one of the girls said. "She lives--"

She proceeded to give him directions, which were by far clearer than Tohru's messy attempt. He gratefully wrote them down and thanked her, heading off in the direction she had pointed to.

Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at a house with "Sunatani" written on the name plate. Just as he was about to walk towards the gate, an older guy walked out.

"Hey there, can I help you?" the twenty-year-old asked.

"Yeah. I'm here to see To--Tsuki Nekono. She wasn't at school today, so..."

"Oh! You're...Kyo?"

Kyo could not help but brighten up a bit at the thought of Tohru talking about him. "That's me. How'd you know?"

"Tsuki told us there was a guy at school with hair the color of carrots," he replied cheerfully, oblivious to the depression now on the visitor's face. He opened the gate for Kyo. "I'm Kimoto Sunatani, Tsuki's foster brother. She had a fever today; that's why she wasn't in school. She gets those when she overexerts herself, especially with martial arts. Mom would rather she quit, but Tsuki's pretty determined. She's a pretty nice girl (don't tell her I told you that), but she's stubborn as a mule if she thinks she's right."

He led Kyo inside and to Tsuki's room. "I'll get one of my sisters to send a snack up for you guys later. Oh, and if you do anything to Tsuki, I'll kill you if she doesn't kill you first." This was said with a bright smile which Kyo automatically detested--it was too much like that dang rat's fake-smile.

He knocked politely on the door. "Toh--Tsuki, it's Kyo. I'm coming in."

"Eh? Kyo-kun?! Kyaa!" There was a thud, and a light coughing fit.

"You alright? I'm coming in."

"Um, okay!"

He entered to see a fairly plain but still quite girly room. At the back corner was an unmade bed, and next to said bed was Tohru, trying to sit upright and fix her hair so she could at least slightly hide the fact that she had been sleeping the entire day.

"Don't get more brain damage," was Kyo's automatic statement upon seeing the black-and-blue mark on her forehead. He closed the door behind him and sat down at the table in the middle of her room.

"Meanie," she muttered, then gasped. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean that!"

"I liked the old you," he said, looking away, "but I like how you can express yourself more now."

"Th-thanks. Anyway, what brought you to my house?"

"Here's the work you missed," he said, handing her some notebooks and pointing out what was the day's assignment. "And I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh. Was there something I forgot to explain last night?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

He stared at her.

"What is it?"

"Sorry. It's just that it's like you have personality disorder when you talk like...you when you look like..._that._"

She smiled, and he realized again just how much he had missed it. "I guess it is a little strange. But what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"Nothing." Kyo felt his cheeks redden. "I just wanted to talk, that's all. Oh, how are you feeling?"

"I'm a lot better now. My temperature seems to have gone down a lot. What happened at school today?" she asked.

"That yanki and the psychic girl are worried about you. Everyone is, I think, even those crazy fanclub girls that bullied you."

Tohru's brow crinkled, confused. "Do you mean they're worried about Tsuki or Tohru?"

"Well, they're wondering what happened with Tsuki, but they're mostly worried about Tohru. Man, it's weird talking like that."

Tohru laughed softly, only to end up in another coughing fit.

Kyo sat beside her and lightly hit her back in an awkward attempt to soothe her. Once it passed, she smiled and said, "It really is nice being able to talk with someone so freely again. I missed this."

He was silent for a moment, then said, "Why don't you end this?"

"Eh?"

"Who cares what happens to us?" He stared into her eyes. "You've done more than enough. You deserve some happiness too. I mean, geez, you even took on the _curse_ for us."

"Yes, but I couldn't possibly let you all get hurt!"

"Screw it! This is hurting everyone more, not knowing where the heck you are!"

This surprised Tohru into silence.

Kyo took the opportunity to continue. "You've noticed it too, right? That stupid rat is more of a fake than usual. I acted like a zombie or something. Momiji isn't as happy as he usually is. Even Haru is quieter than usual. And Shigure's not as obnoxious as usual, Ritsu doesn't even apologize anymore--he doesn't talk at all, actually--while Hatori keeps looking up on the internet to find out where you are."

"But it's better this way!" Tohru tried to convince him. "I appreciate everyone's concern, but soon they'll forget about me and they just won't care! In fact, they should hate me!"

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm the one who messed everything up!"

"You did not!"

"Yes, I did!"

A knock interrupted them. "Nee-chan, we're coming in."

Tohru quickly put on her facade. "'Kay."

Two identical girls entered, carrying trays of food and drinks. "Thanks for visiting our sister," one said as they sat the trays down on the table.

"Sure," Kyo replied, struggling to be patient as he waited for the girls to leave.

"Kyo-kun, these are my sisters Ai and Suki."

"Pleased to meet you," the two girls said, bowing politely.

"Yeah, you too."

Suki and Ai glanced at the close proximity of the visitor and their sister and grinned. "Nee-chan!" Suki cried.

"You didn't tell us you got a boyfriend!" Ai finished excitedly.

Kyo and Tohru turned bright red and inched away from each other. "Nonononono," Tsuki laughed anxiously. "It's not like that at all; I don't like Kyo-kun that way."

"Eeeh? That's too bad."

"It'd be great if you got a boyfriend. Are you feeling better?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"That's good. Nice meeting you, Kyo-nii-chan!(2)"

The two girls closed the door behind them, leaving Tohru to relax.

"I'm so sorry about that," she said, still embarrassed.

Kyo stood, not looking at her. "It's fine. I'd better get going."

"So soon?"

He glanced at her, the pain evident in his eyes and the strained smile on his face. "Yeah, well, I think it's best since I just got rejected for a second time."

Tohru's eyes widened as she suddenly realized how she reacted to Ai and Suki's misinterpretation. Guilt automatically consumed her.

"Kyo-ku--"

"I already finished the homework, so you can give the notebooks back when you come back to school on Monday, alright?"

"Yes, but--!"

"See ya. And don't worry about it."

Before she could say anything more, he was gone.

* * *

Later that evening, Kyo laid on the rooftop, staring at the stars, deep in thought. He remembered that time, only a year ago, when he had just begun to accept Tohru and develop feelings for her. They had been sitting on the roof together, her trying pathetically to punch him, him laughing and trying to teach her the correct method.

_"Right straight!" she had cried with vigor, punching his arm._

_There was a moment of silence, and then a small laugh burst from his lips. "You suck," he informed her with a slightly-shy grin._

_Instead of getting angry, she smiled, and for a moment he wondered if she was an idiot after all. Who would smile so sweetly after someone said that to them? Yet soon after that thought crossed his mind, he realized she was not smiling because he insulted her, but because she understood that this was the first time she had seen him really smile, the first time she had felt that she connected with Kyo in some way._

_And he felt happy that she was happy._

"Hey, stupid cat. Dinner's here," he heard Yuki call in a bored voice.

"Shut up."

"Well, at least your sulking by yourself and not bothering us about it."

He heard Yuki slide the door open to go back inside. "Wait."

"Did you change your mind? It's too late; you didn't want it, so--"

"What if I said I knew where Tohru is?"

There was a flutter of wings as a bird took off nearby.

Suddenly, Yuki appeared on the roof, his eyes wide. "What...did you say?"

"What if I knew where she was; would you go get her?"

"Of course!"

"Even if she doesn't want anyone to find her?"

"What are you talking about?! How do you know where she is?!"

"_If I did_, it would have been yesterday that I figured it out."

Yuki fell silent, obviously considering whether to beat Kyo up almost to death and get the cat to use his last breath to talk about Tohru's location, or if he should just try to stay calm. He decided, for Tohru's sake, that he would go with the latter. "So," he said slowly, "if you did know, you would know why she left?"

"Probably."

"And what do you think might be the reason?"

"She probably was threatened by a certain someone we all know and hate and decided to obey him. He probably threatened our safety as well as her own in order for 'Tohru Honda' to disappear from our lives."

"Ak--"

"_A certain someone_."

Yuki gave up asking for specifics. Thie peculiar bond keeping the Sohmas connected with Akito might alert him somehow of their knowledge. "Hypothetically speaking, is she close to us now?"

"Not really close, but physically close to us."

"And she would be?"

"A kogal. I think."

Yuki sat down heavily.

Kyo continued, keeping his voice carefully apathetic. "She probably misses us, and I bet she wants to come clean but can't. She'll kill me if she finds out I told you. Hypothetically."

"I can't see her killing anyone."

"Guess that's true."

Yuki peered at him from the corner of his eye. "Why are you telling me this?"

Kyo sighed and started to walk down from the roof. He stopped and glanced at his cousin. "Because if she's in love with either of us, it's you. And I figured it'd make her happy if she knew _you _knew."

Without further ado, he hopped down to the balcony and went inside, leaving Yuki to ponder under the starry sky.


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Strength

**Prettyinpinkgal: And here's Chapter Thirteen! Woo-hoo! Nothing much to say about this chapter, or any of these new chapters, except I'm just typing without really planning and so whatever surprises you guys surprises me too. I really should plan out what happens in chapters more, but I just don't want to lose this momentum. Lord knows how long it took me to post Chapter Eleven; I want to hurry and end this story that way I have one less thing to worry about and so you guys finally have an ending.**

**To clarify (because I realized this story is making no sense), the reason Kyo could talk to Tohru without fear of Akito noticing somehow was because he figured it out on his own. But he can't tell Yuki in a straightforward manner, because they both are connected to Akito, therefore there is a chance that if both of them talk about her in a straightforward manner, there's a chance Akito might notice due to their bond.**

**Sigh. I guess this is what I get for not planning anything else and rushing through the writing.  
**

**Anyway, review, pretty please. ;)  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: STRENGTH  
**

"Are you sure you feel up to going to school, Tsuki? Tsuki? Tsu-ki-chaaaan?"

"Eh?" Tohru glanced up in surprise.

Her "father" was smiling. "Are you sure you're up to going to school? Maybe you should rest a bit more."

"Uh, no, that's okay. I'm good!" she said, grinning.

"If you're sure..."

There was no one else at the table this morning. Her mother had left early that morning, and so did her siblings. Tohru glanced around once more, and then asked, "Dad?"

"Yeah?" he replied, stuffing more scrambled eggs into his mouth.

"Were you ever in love with a girl who didn't love you but you were able to stay friends with her?"

She watched in alarm as her foster father nearly choked. "Where's this coming from?!" he asked, bewildered.

She blushed, which he found very unusual for Tsuki. "My two friends...they fell in love with me. This was before I came to live with you guys," she explained. "My one friend recognized me and we started talking again. But I accidentally hurt him because the twins thought he was my b-boyfriend and I said it wasn't like that at all."

"Er, maybe you should talk to your mother about this."

"Yeah, but you're a guy," she said in a slightly-annoyed tone, trying very hard to keep her "Tsuki" act going.

He sighed dramatically. "Fine, fine. There was one girl, Yuri Takamachi. But she just wanted to stay friends. It ended up being too awkward, though, and we finally just grew apart."

He glanced up and saw Tohru's devastated face and quickly said, "But I'm sure that won't happen to you! Do you want to stay friends with them?"

"Yes! I mean, duh!"

Sunatani-san grinned. "Well, then, does he want to stay friends with you?"

Her eyes grew sad, and her mask slipped away. "I don't know. Probably not, after yesterday."

He reached over and mussed her hair.

"Ah! You messed it up! I have to brush it again!"

"You're worrying too much. If he's still so important to you, and you're important to him, it'll work out."

Tohru looked up and felt tears start to build up. Being unable to remember her own father, she could not help but think, _Oh, so this is what it's like having a dad. It's nice. _"Thanks" was all she said aloud.

* * *

Kyo and Yuki walked to school, looking for Tohru. They finally spotted her in front of the gates, looking around frantically.

"Nekono-san!" Yuki called.

Tohru whirled around, her face still downcast when she recognized the voice as Yuki's. When she noticed Kyo, her eyes lit up. "Kyo-kun! Yuki-kun!" She gasped, realizing she sounded too much like herself. Quickly, she fixed this mistake by saying, "What's up, my friends?!"

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Yuki asked anxiously.

She stared at him, noticing how he was suddenly much more like the Yuki 'Tohru' had known. "Sure." Tohru glanced at Kyo, who was already walking inside the school.

They walked up to the roof. Tsuki leaned against the railing.

Yuki observed her for a moment and noticed again how similar her features were to Tohru's. "Are you Tohru?" he finally asked.

She froze. Then she forced herself to relax. "Kyo-kun told you?"

"So you are Tohru!" Yuki quickly pulled her to him and embraced her. "I'm so glad you're alright," he murmured in her ear.

Tohru's eyes filled with tears, and she slowly returned the hug. "I'm so sorry for making you worry."

He pulled away slightly, truly smiling for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. "I'm just happy to see you in one piece. Kyo and I didn't really talk in detail about this, so would it be alright if you filled me in?"

Tohru nodded with a smile. She explained everything, including the bit about Hikaru. When she finished, Yuki's jubilant expression had been replaced by a dark one.

"I'm so sorry, Tohru-kun," Yuki said in complete honesty. "I had no idea."

"I lied about it, so of course you wouldn't know. You don't need to feel bad. I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble and lied about everything."

"Never mind; what do we do about your bargain?"

Tohru's face darkened as well. "We made a deal, and I broke it. But I'm afraid I'll have to lie to him this time; I don't want anyone to be hurt."

Here, she looked up into Yuki's eyes, and he blinked in surprise at the strength and determination that were in hers. Of course, Tohru had always been strong, but it seemed like that strength grown enormously. No longer was she just concerned about keeping promises; she was determined to do what she believed was correct, whether or not she had vowed the opposite. The old Tohru would never have allowed others to be hurt, but this was somehow on a completely different level.

He nodded. "Alright. It seems for now we'll have to pretend we only know you as Nekono. Will you be alright?"

She nodded, smiling brightly in an attempt to reassure him. "I'll be just fine. But I think we'd better get to class."

Yuki smiled as well. "Good idea. Let me know if you ever need to talk."

Tohru smiled again and walked towards the door. As soon as her expression was out of Yuki's sight, the smile faded and was replaced by a thoughtful frown. Somehow, after talking to Yuki, she did not feel better as she had with Kyo. It was as though she still had to keep her act going. With Kyo, she could feel like she could talk about most anything, yet with Yuki, she was concerned about worrying him.

_Why is that? _she wondered, crinkling her brow as she thought. _Is it because I know Yuki-kun isn't quite as strong as Kyo-kun?_

She was surprised by this thought. Physically, perhaps, Yuki was stronger, but she had never considered one emotionally stronger than the other. She knew the two had both suffered greatly due to their curses, and she thought both of them were remarkable for still managing to be so lively despite this. Yet without realizing it, Tohru had understood that between the two, Kyo had suffered more, and he was able to deal with unfortunate events without being crushed by them. Meanwhile, Yuki, although also having a tragic past, seemed more fragile, as though one more dreadful occurrence might shatter him completely.

Tohru realized too that this was the first time she had viewed one as superior in an area than another. She had always acknowledged that they _both _were good at fighting, that they _both _received great grades, that they _both _were precious friends. She had always understood their differences and accepted their individual characteristics, but she had never thought of one as "better" than another in any area.

It was at this moment that she realized something had changed inside of her--no longer was she the oblivious cheerful girl. She was still optimistic, and everyone knew she could be dense, but she could now see things and understand things in a way she hadn't before. And she found she had grown up just a bit.

* * *

School ended without any opportunity to talk with Kyo. Tsuki laughed and talked with Uotani and Hanajima, elated to spend time with her dear friends, but her eyes still darted back to Kyo, who was "being harrassed", as he put it, by the boys who called themselves his friends.

There was something different in his countenance today. His eyes were slightly more serious; he had an air about him which suggested he was slightly more aloof than usual. He was a bit more like the young man he had been when she had returned to Kaibara as Tsuki.

She frowned unconsciously. Was it her fault? Was it because of what happened on Saturday? Or was she simply being conceited?

_Only one way to find out, _she thought with more of her new-found determination.

"I'm so sorry, but could you, like, excuse me for a sec?" Tsuki asked Uo-chan.

"Huh? Oh, sure; go ahead."

Tohru grinned and thanked them, wondering if she should come clean with them, too. No doubt Hana could keep a secret, but she was a bit concerned about Uo being able to be silent on the whole matter with the other Sohmas attending Kaibara. Furthermore, Tohru had a dark suspicion that Uo-chan might try to beat up Akito, if not kill him. The thought made her shudder almost comically.

"Hey, Kyo-kun!" Tsuki said with a huge, strained grin as she walked up to his desk. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Kyo glanced at her, glaring slightly to express his displeasure in her attempt at acting. "Fine."

"Great! C'mon, let's go," she said, pulling on his arm.

"I'll see you guys later," he said to the two boys.

"Don't mind us!" they said simultaneously, obviously thinking Kyo was a lucky guy indeed.

She led him to the rooftop, where she finally released his arm to bow. "I'm so sorry!" she cried.

"That's not necessary," he said with a sigh, running his fingers through his orange hair. "I told you not to worry about it."

"But I should have been nicer about it!" _Ack! _"I mean, I shouldn't have said it at all! I mean--!"

She stopped abruptly, picking up on Kyo's muffled laughter. "You're goofy," he informed her, still lightly chuckling.

Tohru relaxed, relieved to see the old Kyo was back. She laughed as well, and was amazed at how real it was compared to her cheerful appearance when around Yuki. "I guess I am!"

Kyo gazed at her, steadily, realizing again how lovely she looked when she smiled.

Her laughter faded as she met his gaze, and a blush spread on her cheeks as she averted her eyes. Despite her embarrassment, she still felt very comfortable around him.

"Listen," Kyo said, getting her attention once again. "I'm not giving up. I know you're still in love with that Hikaru guy, and I know you don't have feelings for me, but I want to keep on hoping. I...don't think I would have ever been this forceful if it hadn't been for you."

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean," he said, meeting her eyes with a slight blush, "that if it had been any other girl, I would never have been so full of myself as to think I had a chance. But it's you, and I guess I'm still remembering that onigiri speech you gave."

"Oh..."

"So I won't give up, alright? And, since I've said that, do you want to go somewhere today? A movie, arcade? I'll even put up with karaoke, but don't expect me to sing!"

Tohru's face turned bright red. "I-is...Do you mean 'going somewhere' as in a date?"

"For me, yeah, but you don't have to interpret it that way. It can just be two friends hanging out or something."

Tohru tucked her bleached hair behind her ears in embarrassment. "Um..." _He knows I don't like him that way, but I do want to spend time with him... _"Okay."

He smiled. "Good."

**Prettyinpinkgal: Just so you know, I'm referring to the onigiri speech in I believe volume 2. Please, please review!**


	15. Chapter Fourteen: First Date?

**Prettyinpinkgal: Chapter Fourteen! Yay! Thanks to those who have put this story in their favorites/alerts, but some reviews would also be appreciated ;)**

**1) Purikura: commonly used shortening of the phrase purinto kurabu, the Japanese pronunciation of "print club". Essentially, they are photo booths. They are used for passports and other official things, but are often used for entertainment purposes. From what I understand, the pictures can be the strips of pictures like how they come out in the U.S. photo booths, or they can be stickers to put on your cell phone and so on. They're much more popular in Japan than in the U.S.  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: FIRST DATE?**

"Thank you for taking care of this, Sohma-kun," the teacher said to Yuki, handing him the files for student council.

"Don't mention it," he replied with a serene smile. He glanced out the window, then did a double-take. There was no mistaking that orange hair. That was Kyo, walking with...Tohru.

He was on the first floor, so he could see their expressions more clearly. Kyo's awkward smile, Tohru's embarrassed laughter, could only mean one thing.

Kyo had realized he still had a shot with her.

And Tohru, judging by the way she was fidgeting, was not opposed to letting him have this shot.

Yuki frowned, feeling his heart become crushed under the weight of the various emotions which now bubbled up within him. As the pair faded from view, he turned away, attempting to focus on his duties for the student council.

* * *

"Where do you wanna go?" Kyo asked the obviously flustered girl next to him. The extreme embarrassment evident on her face suggested she was possibly considering this as a date, even though he knew that as of yet, she did not love him back. Still, there was the possibility of tomorrow, and that made him optimistic.

_Tohru's rubbed off on me, _he mused, glancing with barely concealed affection at her.

"Um, anywhere's fine."

Kyo nodded.

Tohru, meanwhile, was fairly certain she would die early from a heart attack. _Th-this can't be healthy! _she cried mentally. Had she been so nervous for her date with Hikaru? A memory of her mother telling her to calm down and helping her get ready, then a memory of her mother leaving the bedroom to go threaten Hikaru by saying if he did so much as harm a hair on Tohru's precious head, with God as her witness she would hunt him down as show why the Red Butterfly was so greatly feared in the yanki world, came to her, and she felt herself breathe a laugh.

She then cast these memories aside. It seemed very rude to think of a date with one boy when she was on a sort-of date with another.

But was this the right thing? Tohru felt a bit of guilt grip her heart. Part of her didn't want to do this, even if she considered it just spending time with a friend. She still had feelings for Hikaru, and out of loyalty to him and the special time they shared together, she wanted to get out of this.

However, she noticed with a start that she wasn't quite as in love with Hikaru as she had been. And she noticed that she was not as averse to dating Kyo as she once would have been.

"Are you hungry?" he asked presently.

"Eh? Uh, a little."

They went to a taiyaki stand, where Kyo grabbed a bag of the fish-shaped pastries. Tohru smiled and thanked him, taking one out as they continued on their way.

The irony occurred to her, and she giggled.

"What?" he asked, but not unkindly, only curiously.

"You're--you _were--_the cat, and we're eating taiyaki," she explained, laughing lightly.

He could not help but smile slightly. "It's not that funny."

She only smiled more. "How do you eat taiyaki?"

"Tail first."

"I like eating the face first. It's..." Her face darkened. "It seems like I'm being kinder to just eat its head right away."

Kyo felt his lips quiver as he attempted in vain to keep a straight face.

"It's not funny!" she cried, her brow crinkled in concern for the poor fish pastry, unconsciously stroking the taiyaki as if to soothe it.

That did it. Kyo looked away as he leaned forward, laughing hard.

Tohru started, then relaxed and started laughing as well. She tried thinking of a time when Kyo had laughed so freely and found she had no memories of such a thing.

They neared a purikura (1). Tohru's eyes darted towards it, then thought of what would happen to them if the pictures fell in the wrong hands.

Her face must have mirrored her concern, for Kyo said in an annoyed voice, "Come on. We might as well."

He took her hand, and both blushed deeply. "Come on," he repeated gruffly, pulling her towards the purikura.

"Yes, yes, go right ahead," a voice said, causing them to freeze.

They slowly turned to face the speaker, who was dressed in a suit. He smiled, cold and heartless with rage burning in his eyes.

"After all, I already know."

**Prettyinpinkgal: Ack! The shortness! But at least it's another new chapter, right? Right? You guys can complain about the shortness _in your reviews_, okay? Hint, hint. XP**


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Caught

**Prettyinpinkgal: Chapter Fifteen! The charade is over! How will Akito react? What will happen to the Sohmas? Will Tohru find a way to save her friends, and her future love, even if she couldn't save those dearest to her in the past? Stay tuned... ;)**

**Much thanks to Ebony Dagger for submitting not one, but TWO reviews in one day. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: CAUGHT  
**

Kyo automatically stepped in front of Tohru.

Akito smiled in a way that was gentle, but full of malicious intent. "No need to fear, Kyo. I won't do anything to any of you at this moment. I thought we would discuss things at the main house."

"Like heck we will!" Kyo snarled, becoming more and more protective as he felt Tohru's trembling fingers clutch his shirt.

"But you will. Especially since you have a chance to save the rest of the Sohma family," Akito said calmly to Tohru, who was barely visible.

"Don't buy it, Tohru," Kyo told her in a low voice. To the vile Akito, he said, "You won't do anything. If you kill them, then you won't have any loyal followers, will you?"

"Ah, but I wouldn't kill anyone, silly Kyo," he laughed lightly. "I would only instill such fear in them that they wouldn't be able to _breathe _without asking my permission!"

"You're so sick! Isn't there any part of you that's human at all?!" Kyo yelled, drawing attention from a couple of passersby, who then continued on their way.

"That's funny, hearing the cat say such things to me."

Kyo's fists tightened. "Why you--!"

He was just about to charge at the sadistic Sohma when Tohru wrapped her arms around his waist. "No!"

"Tohru, let go!"

"No! No, no, _no!_"

_**"Don't shoot her!"**_

_**"Hikaru-kun, look out!"**_

_**"HIKARU-KUUUUUUN!"**_

"Not again! Please, God, not again!" Tohru sobbed.

Kyo froze, then unclenched his fists and gently touched her arms, which were still wrapped tightly around him. "It's okay," he said, feeling his heart break. "I won't attack him. Calm down."

Tohru's grip relaxed, and she managed to slow her tears. She looked up at Akito, ready to beg if necessary. "Please, just hurt me. Just don't hurt anyone else."

"Tohru, you idiot!" Kyo yelled.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but no. Our bargain was for the Sohmas _and _you. How sad," he said with a frown, "that the pain coming for them will all be your fault. You couldn't stand to be apart, and now look what will await them."

"There has to be some other way! Akito-san, please!"

"There is another way. Come to the main house by nightfall and you shall find out. Take care," he said mockingly, taking leave.

Kyo trembled as he watched the object of his disgust blend in with the crowd of people. "_Curse_ him! Tohru, are you okay?"

She nodded, but gave no further answer.

"Oh no, you are not doing that silence thing again! You're going to talk to me, got that?!"

"What do you want me to say, Kyo-kun?!" she wailed. "Of _course _I'm not okay! I wish Hikaru-kun had just let me get shot, that way everyone would be okay and safe and happy!"

"Don't talk like that!"

"You're the one who wanted me to talk!"

Kyo paused; she had a point. However, anger rose up within him again and he yelled back, "Listen, maybe everyone would be alive but _nobody _would be happy! I guarantee you that if that Hikaru guy had loved you as much as you believe he did, then he'd _still _be upset, just like you are. And my family? We'd still be cursed and that dang rat would still be all cool and uncaring all the time and Shigure would still be a huge pervert! Well, he still is... But he's not as much of one! And Ayame wouldn't have made up with Yuki, Kisa would still be missing, and Hiro would be like the walking dead because Kisa would be missing, and Ritsu would be even more annoying than usual, and Hatori wouldn't have forgiven himself. Momiji would be constantly faking smiles because of his own family problems, Kagura wouldn't be happy since she doesn't have any friends besides you, Haru would be Black Haru a lot more, and I'd still be the pathetic kid you met last year."

His voice softened. "I'd be the guy who felt like he constantly had to measure up, the guy who was too pathetic to do anything but beat up everybody and keep my distance. I wouldn't be able to be Shishou's son. And I even if I was, I wouldn't be as happy as I was today."

Tohru's tears had stopped, and she stared at him in amazement, hardly able to believe what he said was true except for the confirmation in her own heart and her own knowledge of the change in everyone. Still, tears welled up again as she muttered, "But even so, I caused you the most pain out of everyone. You and Yuki-kun."

He then reached out and grabbed her shoulders. Quickly, he bent down and kissed her gently on the lips. He lingered there for a few moments, then broke it.

Tohru was still staring.

He concluded his long speech with bluntly saying, "There. Now you've erased any pain I did have. But don't let that rat kiss you. He'll have to figure out some other way."

She only stared at him dumbly.

"Do you want to go to the main house?"

"...Eh? Ah, yes."

"Fine. Let's go."

He took her hand and pulled her along. Now that his face was safely out of her sight, he was able to allow himself to blush; and despite the present circumstances, he could not help but replay the kiss over and over in his mind.

* * *

They arrived at the main house just before nightfall.

"Are you sure about this?" Kyo asked.

Tohru nodded. "I'm going to end this." Her eyes were full of the determination she had come to possess, which he admired her for. Yet he still greatly feared for her safety.

They entered. An older servant greeted them. "Everyone is assembled in the banquet room."

Tohru and Kyo were then separated. Kyo was prepared to forcefully keep Tohru with him, but she convinced him that Akito probably wouldn't do anything to her without the Sohmas seeing it, since he apparently was receiving much pleasure from this.

Kyo sat at next to Hatsuharu at the end of the table. "Do you guys know why you're here?" he asked.

"No, only that Akito has an announcement to make."

Kyo only nodded, knowing there was no point in explaining anything now.

Akito made his grand entrance. "Hello, everyone." The smile on his lips was malicious.

"Hello, Akito-san," everyone said politely and simultaneously. Only Kyo was silent.

"I have an important guest who I know you're all anxious to see. Actually, Yuki and Kyo already know about this guest."

Kyo's eyes widened. Yuki? How did he know about this thing? Did Akito tell him? But why bother?

Unless...

Akito's voice was amiable, but his eyes were not. "Send her in," he called to a servant on the other side of the door next to him.

It slid open. Tohru, still in her school uniform, walked in and turned to face everyone. Murmurs of "who's that?" and "that's Tsuki Nekono from school!" began, and it was not until Akito spoke that silence feel on the assembled group.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?" he asked Tohru, smiling.

Tohru could not even manage a smile. Her eyes were serious as she said, "Some of you know me as Tsuki Nekono. I was adopted into the Sunatani family about a month ago after I dyed my hair blonde and got a haircut. I decided to completely remake my personality to become a kogal just before I met my foster mother."

Everyone listened attentively, but some eyes were widening as they began to realize why she might have changed her personality.

"The reason I changed was because I had to keep a bargain I made with Akito-san. I had to stay away from all of you or else he would hurt not only me, but all of you. To make sure to keep distance between us, I had to change my entire identity to keep us safe in case we ever met again. But I did meet many of you again, and then Kyo and Yuki found out my identity, so I did not fulfill my end of the bargain.

"I'm called Tsuki Nekono, but you all once knew me as Tohru Honda."


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Ending the Sorrow

**Prettyinpinkgal: Chapter Sixteen! WOOT! I'm so close to being done! The writer in me hates how out of character and messy this story is, but I just want to get this story over with right now XD**

**I'd like to take this time to remind my readers that I am still keeping with the impressions I had of the characters four years ago, before I read about Shigure's dark side and Akito's kind side. So if they seem out of character, that would be why.  
**

**Thank you to hcutie99, goongluver16, Speedykitten1643, and CareBear06! After waking up at 4:30 and finally deciding to get up at 6:30, I was sure this wouldn't be a good day. You guys proved me wrong ;)  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: ENDING THE SORROW  
**

"Tohru...Honda?"

The company gazed upon her, suddenly noticing the familiar features, the height, the large eyes.

"Onee-chan," Kisa murmured, putting a quivering hand to her mouth.

Tohru smiled sadly. With a bow, she said, "I'm sorry for worrying you, and for what's about to happen."

Shigure turned to face Akito, desperation written all over his face. "Akito-san, please. Have a heart!"

Akito laughed. "I threw that away years ago! Now, come, girl. I'll get to the rest of you later."

"No."

Akito stopped laughing. He looked disbelievingly at Tohru. "What did you say...?"

She stepped in front of him so she was in between Akito and the table. "You won't hurt me, and you won't hurt my friends."

"We made a deal," he snarled.

She looked him in the eyes. "I don't think I can try to have any compassion for you; you'd have to be sadistic to do something like this.

"As for your deal, it was cruel and illegal from the start. I won't let you follow through with it."

"Why you--!"

He punched her hard, so sharply that despite her skills in martial arts she still fell onto the low wooden table, causing the group to cry out.

"Tohru!" Kyo called, standing up sharply.

"Stay there!" she told him as well as his family, wiping some blood which was trickling from her nose. She stood up.

Akito glared at her madly. "Fine, then I'll just hurt all of you at the same time!"

By now, the entire company had stood, but were unsure of what course of action to take--go against the Sohma leader, whom they had devoted themselves to for generations, or save this girl who was strange enough to accept them, kind enough to love them, and brave enough to stand up for them.

"Will you kill them?" Tohru asked calmly. "Will you kill me?"

"I'll kill all of you!" he yelled, grabbing onto her hair.

That was it. Without further thought, the gathered Sohmas moved towards the two, ready to hold Akito down and save Tohru.

Before they could take more than a step, however, Tohru kneed Akito where it hurt and jumped back as the head of the Sohma family crumbled to the ground.

Far too calmly, she uttered, "Ouch. If I go bald, it's your fault." She smoothly glanced at her cell phone, which was had been in her hand the entire time but had been overlooked due to its small size and the more pressing matters at hand. "Hey, Nii-chan. Did you get all that?"

The door slid open, revealing her brother in a policeman uniform. Several servants were behind him, extremely frazzled and trying to explain to Kimoto that the master would not want him to interrupt.

"Every word," he said to Tohru, holding up his cell phone and turning it off. He then held up his badge with one hand and put his cell phone away with the other. "Akito Sohma, you are under arrest for blackmail, abuse, and plotting murder. Anything you say can and will be used against you." His usually-amused eyes were serious for once as he put the handcuffs on Akito, who was in too much pain to move at all.

"Curse you," he managed to say to Tohru. "Don't think...this is over."

"I can honestly say it is," she said coolly. Some aspects of Tsuki's personality had become part of Tohru's, and what better time to use these aspects?

She then turned around and was touched to see her friends gathered behind her, ready to assist if need be. "I'm so sorry for all the trouble I've caused," she said with a bow. "And...I will get Kimoto-nii-chan to drop the charges if you want me to."

"NO!" was the immediate reply by all.

"My sweet Tohru," Ayame cried ecstatically. "Ever since our curse was broken, the tie between the Sohmas and the head of the family has greatly diminished, so we don't have to respond to Akito's beck and call anymore. Since we're not so tightly connected, we can finally be free of him! Isn't that _wonderful?!_"

Tohru sighed with relief. "That's good news. Truthfully, I'd be more than a little afraid to let Akito loose."

"Shut up," hissed the criminal, who Kimoto had unsympathetically pulled to his feet to walk.

"But Tohru, Tohru," Momiji cried, hopping up and down like the rabbit he was (or had been). "You acted so different!"

"I did, didn't I?" Tohru said with a laugh, now able to relax and rejoice for being reunited with her dear friends.

Kyo stood beside her. "First, what the heck was Kimoto doing here?"

"Kyo-kun, remember how after we met with Akito earlier today, I asked for us to stop by my house?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well, my brother's a cop, and I realized he could really help us. It was such an easy solution that I was surprised I hadn't thought of it before. I decided to come clean with everything with my adoptive family, and I hugged Kimoto to prove that the curse existed. That was sort of funny," she giggled. "Then we decided to put the cell phones on speaker phone so he could have definite evidence that Akito had been as horrible as I had described."

Yuki said bluntly, "That's fairly obvious. Couldn't you figure that out on your own, stupid cat?"

"Shut up! I only met her brother once! I didn't know he was a cop! More importantly, how did Akito know you knew about Tohru's identity?!"

Yuki froze then sighed. "I need to apologize too. I had called Haru after I saw you two go off on a date--"

"A _date?! _What?!" most of the Sohmas exclaimed.

"--_anyway_, Haru had been in a meeting with Akito and Akito made him take the call and when he found out it was from me Akito forced him to put it on speaker phone without me knowing he was listening in and I told Haru about Kyo and I knowing about your identity and I was just venting and I'm so sorry!"

Stunned silence followed.

"Um, it's okay?" Tohru said, still very embarrassed over the mention of the date. "After all, you didn't know."

"Sorry I didn't tell you, Yuki," Haru said.

Ayame cried, "YUKI! If you were so heartbroken, you could have come and cried in my arms--!"

Yuki promptly punched Ayame in the face.

All was forgiven and forgotten, and Tohru filled the family in on the details of her life for the past month, as well as her past with Hikaru. She then asked if all of them would come to the Sunatani residence for dinner, which they quickly agreed to.

"But Tohru," Shigure asked, getting her attention, "what will you live?"

She paused, not having the thought occur to her before. "I...I don't know. I like living in your house as well as with the Sunatanis."

"How about this, then. You're welcome to make my house your main home so that you stay in Kaibara with your friends, but you can go visit the Sunatanis whenever you like?"

Tohru perked up right away. "Would that be alright?!"

"Of course!" he laughed. "I've missed having a high school girl--I mean a maid--I mean a, uh, nice disposition in the house; those two can be so gloomy."

Tohru laughed as well, and relished in feeling as though she had never left.

But there was still one task to take care of.

Yuki and Kyo were smiling, but she wondered if this peace would last without her intervention.

**Prettyinpinkgal: One more chapter, then an epilogue! Actually, the next chapter sort of is an epilogue. It's gonna be super short, but I didn't feel like including it in this chapter. Also, I don't really watch any cop dramas or anything, so if I got Kimoto's lines wrong, I blame my lack of sleep and lack of interest in cop shows, 'kay? Please review!**


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Decisions

**Prettyinpinkgal: Chapter Seventeen is the final chapter, and I've decided to have no epilogue after this since this ended up BEING the epilogue. It's been a wonderful time working on this fic again, even though I rushed through it as quickly as possible. Thanks for all the support over the years, everybody. In a moment of shameless advertising, please read some of my other stories too! Several of them are much better than this. I think if you want to compare my fanfics to food, this would be a yummy sandwich, quickly put together but edible, while some of my other stories (particularly Destiny) is an attempt at creme brulee.**

**Thanks to Speedykitten for reviewing again! I really appreciate it! I know the ending was rushed, but I hope it wasn't completely bad.  
**

**1) Sayonara: Goodbye/farewell.  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Fruits Basket, not Princess Tutu, not Full Moon wo Sagashite, not anything that was referenced even in the slightest bit intentionally or unintentionally. Hikaru and the Sunatani family are the only characters I own, and even the Sunatanis are based off of the Kotobuki family in SuperGALS! and Hikaru is based off of Eichi in FMwS.  
**

**TROUBLED LOVE**

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: DECISION  
**

_Hikaru-kun..._

_Do you know? I love you even now. I feel like crying whenever I think of those precious days we spent together._

_However, my love for you is fading._

_Would you like the me that is stronger, braver, than the Tohru you knew?_

_Would you like my friends?_

_Would you like my decision to learn martial arts?_

_I don't know._

_You'll never fade from my heart, Hikaru-kun, but my love for you is. And the remaining affection I do hold for you is changing into something else._

_I think I'm finally moving on._

_I know I'll always love you, in my own way, but I think even you would want me to find a living person to fall in love with._

_I'm not saying I'm in love with someone right now, but...there's two people in love with me._

_One of them I know I can never be with._

_The other...I'm not sure. But if he's patient enough to wait for me, maybe I can be with him. Maybe I will fall for him._

_And so, I'm saying goodbye._

_To you, Hikaru-kun, and to those memories._

_I'll always remember, but I won't cling to them like I did._

_I will start moving forward._

_Sayonara (1)._

She stood, her black dress swaying in the breeze.

"You done?" Kyo asked Tohru.

"Mmm."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Yuki asked her.

"Not right now. Should we go home? I'll make us some lunch."

"Sounds great," the two boys said simultaneously, then glared at each other. They had been practicing restraint this past week.

Was it really a week ago she had returned to the Sohma house and had the adoption papers annulled? (Although they were negated anyway since she had lied about her name.) It didn't seem like it. Time had moved so slowly, despite the constant business with cleaning the house. There was also the shocking discovery that, now that Akito had his ties completely severed with the Sohma family, Tohru could no longer transform. The curse apparently had been lifted by itself.

Uo-chan and Hana-chan had experienced a wide range of emotions when Tohru arrived at school as Tohru, not Tsuki, and had asked them to help her get the dye out of her hair, eager to become a brunette again. However, in the end, both were simply glad to see that their best friend was back and she was safe and sound.

Being a kogal had left its mark. Tohru kept some knee socks hidden away in her room (just in case she didn't get to the laundry and she needed some socks, she reasoned) and was bolder than she had been. With the Sunatani family's generous financial support, as well as her own part time job, she was able to spend time with her friends from her old school in Shibuya and go shopping. However, she did not dress quite as gal-like as she had only a few weeks ago.

It seemed like everything had fallen into place. At school and home(s), it was as though she had never left. But there was one final decision to make.

She took both of the boys hands and walked between them, just as they had done when they had rescued her from her grandfather's house last year.

Yuki certainly had the air of a prince, and she loved how sweet he was. She still occasionally returned to the awe she had initially felt towards him, but overall she was mostly comfortable with his presence.

Kyo was violent, but always was protecting her, whether physically or emotionally. He had a good heart, and she could always trust him to be honest with her.

Who to choose? Should she choose neither?

Yuki glanced over and smiled at her, causing to blush at the knowledge that she had been staring. She looked away quickly. Once she was sure Yuki had looked away as well, she turned to look at Kyo.

He then met her eyes, flushed a bit, and then asked, "What?"

It was in the meeting of fiery red-orange and soft chocolate eyes that she knew the answer.

She stopped. "Kyo-kun, could you excuse me for a second? Yuki-kun, I'd like to talk to you."

"Alright," he replied, but it was evident in his eyes that he knew what she was going to say.

Kyo, meanwhile, kicked a rock and wished he could inconspicuously go over to the nearest tree and punch it several times over.

Once Kyo was out of earshot, Tohru said sorrowfully, "I'm so sorry, Yuki-kun. I've thought very hard about this for the past month, and I think I've finally come to a decision. I-I don't think I'll ever think of you as more than a good friend. I'm so sorry!"

Yuki frowned, but then managed a smile. "I had a feeling you would say that. So you choose Kyo?"

She turned red, and he smiled knowingly, albeit painfully. He then kissed her on the cheek. "I'll let the cat walk you home. Do your best," he said with an encouraging smile.

She felt her eyes fill with tears. "Thank you, Yuki-kun. I'll always love you as a friend."

He nodded and waved and walked away.

Tohru tucked her short hair behind her ears, taking a couple of gulps of air. She then turned to walk stiffly towards Kyo, who had not bothered to watch the exchange at all except through occasional glances.

"Where's the rat going?" he asked gruffly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Um, he's going to let just the two of us head back."

"That's stupid. Isn't he your boyfriend now?"

"...Eh?"

"Don't 'eh' me!" he replied shortly, but not really meanly. "He is, isn't he?"

She eyed him for a moment, then said bluntly, "Kyo-kun, you're a liar."

"Huh?! Don't make this about me! You and that rat are the ones who--"

"You are a liar though! You were the one who told me you weren't giving up, and that you were going to keep hoping and all of that crap--" the habits she had picked up from being Tsuki were now showing as she grew more and more upset "--and that you actually believed you had an umeboshi and all that stuff, and now you're acting like you don't believe that!" She was getting near tears from both frustration and sorrow.

"...Run that by me again?"

Now at the height of her agitation, she stomped her foot in a way that would have been very cute and comical if Kyo hadn't been so confused and Tohru hadn't been so agitated. "I'm saying Yuki-kun took his rejection better than your acceptance! ...Or...something like that!"

She whirled on her heel and walked away, feeling utterly humiliated.

"Wait, I'm accepted?" was the only question the dumbfounded Kyo could make.

"You've been accepted for the future!" she replied, whirling round to face him. "I'm not completely over Hikaru-kun yet, but I'm starting to like you now, so, what's that phrase, 'get me on the rebound' when I am, okay? You have my permission, Yuki-kun doesn't."

She turned on her heel again, fully intending to just walk home by herself and try to sort herself out (although she suspected it would be in vain).

However, Kyo suddenly ran up behind her, whirled her around, and held her closely to him. "Hurry up and get over him, okay?"

She let out a small "eep!", then managed a nod, although it was rather hard since her head was right against his chest.

He pulled back with a huge grin, more childlike and joyful than any she had ever seen from him before. "Good. Now come on; I want dinner."

He did not let go of her hand the entire hour it took to return home.

And both were glad that he didn't.


End file.
